The Bombers added Stringer to their list with little more than an hour of the trade period remaining, completing a trio of trades during the period that included former Giant Devon Smith and Gold Coast's Adam Saad.

Bombers CEO Xavier Campbell said the trade triumph was the result of a list management strategy that was aggressive, targeted and executed perfectly by the club's football department.

He said it was an important indication the club was emerging from the dark days of the supplements scandal.

"It's part of that rebuilding process and somewhat a validation that we're on the right path," Campbell said.

The Essendon boss said the club's supporters were the main reason Essendon had become a destination club during this trade period and the Bombers had a responsibility to get the deals done and continue to improve on-field.

"[The fans] came through in massive numbers throughout the year to create a tremendous game-day experience and that plays a big part in recruiting players to the club," Campbell said.

The result also changes long-held perceptions about the club that it struggled to make trades, an assertion Campbell argued was unfair.

However, he did admit the Bombers had discussed their approach to this trade period and went in with a clear strategy.

"We definitely had a discussion about our list strategy and how aggressive we want to be," Campbell said.

"We were all in unison on that, but to get there we wanted to be pretty pragmatic."

Although the Bombers were thrashed in their only final in 2017, Campbell said the list was on the up although he stopped short of making any grand statements about how far the club could rise on the ladder.

"We've put ourselves in a good position to improve," Campbell said.

The conclusion of the Stringer deal was a relief to Essendon and the 23-year-old All-Australian, who was told his time at the Bulldogs was up after the season ended, despite having a year left on his contract.

His private life was discussed publicly and the Bulldogs made it clear it was time he left the club, which eventually weakened what they could get in return for Stringer, who has led the club's goalkicking for the past three seasons.

Stringer, who left for the United States early this week, said he was rapt to make a fresh start.

"I'm focused on being the best footballer, parent and person I can be, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity in front of me," Stinger said.

The Bulldogs were initially adamant they would not let Stringer go for anything less than the Bombers' pick 11 but when the Bombers traded that prized pick to Greater Western Sydney to secure Smith last week, the Bulldogs had to reassess.

On Thursday afternoon, the Bulldogs eventually accepted Essendon's picks 25 and 30 and then converted selections 28 and 30 and a future pick into selections 16 and 40 after doing a deal with Carlton.

They then hung on to pick 16 and traded picks 25 and 40 to secure Brisbane Lions forward Josh Schache with the final trade involving a player for the day.

Schache, the No. 2 selection from the 2015 national draft, had completed a medical with the Bulldogs on Wednesday as the club decided it needed to boost its strength up forward to replace Stringer.

Bulldogs football manager Chris Grant said they were delighted to add Schache, who wanted to move back to Victoria after struggling to settle in Brisbane.

"We see the glass as half-full," Grant told trade radio. "He's a young player ??? the positives far outweigh what the concerns might be."