Per Chicago Sun-Times.
Despite receiving a one-year contract worth $3.5 million from Washington, the great Strome mystery — ‘Why do NHL teams not value him as much as they should?’ — nonetheless remains.
chicago.suntimes.com
Certainly in Chicago, Strome never found the stability his production seemed to justify.
His relationship with ex-coach Jeremy Colliton fell apart last fall, and although he
thrived the second half of the season under Derek King, the interim coach was still harder on him than he was on others. Ex-general manager Stan Bowman and new GM Kyle Davidson both tried in vain for more than a year to trade Strome, yet never received much interest from other teams.
Part of the constant Strome under-appreciation from Hawks management stemmed from internal analytics that indicated Strome performed poorly against higher-level competition, per sources. But that never fully explained the situation.
“I felt like I played my way into getting a qualifying offer,” Strome said. “But with the way the Blackhawks are trending and what they’re looking to do in the next coming years, I’m not going to say I was surprised by their decision.”
It’s all water under the bridge now, though, and Strome has plenty of reasons to be optimistic about his fresh start in D.C.
Strome will battle Lars Eller for the Capitals’ second-line center spot (beneath Evgeny Kuznetsov) this coming season, but with Eller aged 33 and a pending unrestricted free agent next summer, Strome is favored to win that battle long-term. He’ll be an RFA again next summer.
With wingers Wilson, Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie, Anthony Mantha, Connor Brown (acquired from the Senators this summer) and Nicklas Backstrom (when healthy again) all on the Capitals’ roster, Strome will not lack quality linemates.
There’s also the odd coincidence that every Capitals summer addition is a former teammate of his. Henrik Borgstrom and Erik Gustafsson came from the Hawks, Brown played with Strome on the OHL’s Erie Otters in 2013-14 and new goalie Darcy Kuemper played with Strome on the Coyotes in 2017-18.
And hopefully for his sake, Strome’s Capitals tenure will prove far steadier — and far more valued by coaches and management — than his Hawks tenure did.
“I’m excited to join...a team that’s in the playoffs pretty much every year,” he said. “To have that new opportunity and new challenge, it’s something that every player looks forward to. It gives me a real drive for the summer to be at my best going into the season and show them they made a good choice in signing me.”