Ryan Strome was on a flight when he found out he’d been traded from the New York Islanders to the Edmonton Oilers.
One of the first people to reach out to the 23-year-old centre once the news broke was new teammate Connor McDavid.
“To feel welcome right away is always a good thing,” Strome said Friday when he joined Sportsnet’s Hockey Central.
He admitted that it’s been an emotional whirlwind, but he’s excited about the team that awaits him in Edmonton.
“They’ve got a good thing going over there,” he said.
Strome and McDavid are well acquainted: McDavid is a friend of Strome’s younger brother, Dylan, and has visited Strome’s family home.
“I always knew where he’d be so I made sure I was nice to him,” Strome said of his past meetings with McDavid. “I knew one day I’d be looking up to him.”
While Strome said he was to leave behind good friends on his old team — including John Tavares, who is like an older brother to him — he said he’s excited about joining a team with so much potential.
Strome doesn’t yet know what his role will be, but he’s looking forward to joining McDavid — and taking to the ice at Rogers Place, which he admitted was a step up from his old digs.
“They kind of just said, ‘Be ready to play. You’re gonna get a great opportunity. We’ve got an up-and-coming team,'” he said. “I think that as a player that’s all you need to hear to get excited, and if that doesn’t motivate you for the season, I’m not sure what else does going to a team like that.”
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