The St. Louis Blues might have their next great skater ready to take the NHL by surprise: Jimmy Snuggerud.
Snuggerud was one of the most hyped prospects in recent Blues history after becoming one of the best skaters in the NCAA at the University of Minnesota. He is set to have a big rookie season with lofty expectations set on him; what can Blues fans expect from the young skater, and does he have a shot to win the Calder trophy as the best rookie in the NHL?
Snuggerud's impressive cup of coffee
After a first-round selection in 2022, Snuggerud quickly rose through the ranks during his ascension in the NCAA. He finished his final season at Minnesota with 24 goals and 51 points in 40 games played.
This earned Snuggerud the call-up to the NHL at just 20 years old, immediately making him one of the youngest skaters in the NHL. And it didn't take him long to overcome this fact and establish himself as a legitimate offensive threat.
Snuggerud finished his brief 7-game stint with the NHL club with 4 points (1G 3A) in 7 games, scoring about or just over half a point per game. This pace already puts him in excellent company for his age, as the 82-game point pace is about 47 points. This puts him around where San Jose Sharks forward Will Smith finished last year with 45 points, which was fourth among all rookies and earned Smith a 6th place Calder finish.
At just 20 years old, Snuggerud has already impressed and proved that he has what it takes to make it in the NHL. In only 7 games, he showed he is more than ready to play against NHL-level competition and hang with the best rookies out there.
Shoot for the moon, you might land the Calder
So, where does Snuggerud land in the Calder race? If we take the Vegas odds to be an indication of where the market lies on him, he is currently tied for 5th place with Alexander Nikishin (CAR) at +1800. Above Snuggerud is Isaac Howard (EDM) at +1500, Michael Misa (SJS) at +1200, Zeev Buium (MIN) at +1000, and the favorite is Ivan Demidov (MTL) at +280.
If you're not familiar with what gambling odds equate to, this means Demidov is the favorite to win the award by a notable margin, and Snuggerud is considered to have an outside chance at the award while not being a total long shot.
Demidov does make sense as the favorite to win the award, given his draft pedigree and what he showed last season. Demidov was selected 5th overall in 2024 despite being a projected top 3 or top 2 pick and has impressed in the KHL since. He earned two games with the Montreal Canadiens and scored 2 points in those games (1G 1A), meaning his pace is technically higher than Snuggerud's. It is hard to draw massive conclusions from two games in the NHL, but he certainly passed the eye test as an impressive young player.
So is the award locked up? Far from it, I'd bet. Demidov still has a lot to prove at the NHL level since he only played in a pair of games, whereas Snuggerud's sample size is notably larger. If you consider games played, the two were on similar point paces, meaning their skill could be comparable.
There is a lot left in front of both skaters, but I think Snuggerud has a real shot at winning the Calder. He should receive significant top-9 minutes with the Blues, who are a young and ascending team under one of the best head coaches in the NHL. This means his deployment and path to success are there for the taking, and he should only have to prove just how high he can reach.
Furthermore, Snuggerud came from arguably the toughest affiliated league before the NHL, the NCAA. At Minnesota, he proved he was one of the best skaters in all of college hockey, not just another body who will eat up NHL minutes.
Snuggerud has the scoring ability and the playmaking to match. Perhaps the most impressive thing about his brief stint in the NHL was his impressive, well-above-average hockey IQ that he put on display, making some spectacular passes and generating offense through creative means.
Finally, Snuggerud looked the part when the lights shone the brightest. He matched his point pace in the playoffs, registering 4 points again (2G 2A) in 7 playoff games, and didn't look outmatched for the majority of the series. This beats Demidov's production of 2 points (0G 2A) in 5 games, meaning Snuggerud might have the clutch gene more than his counterpart in Montreal.
It is certainly not a given, but I believe Snuggerud has just as much chance to win the Calder trophy as any rookie this season. I wouldn't even consider it an outside shot; he has shown just as much, if not more, than his peers at the NHL level and is ready to take the ice by storm this coming season.
I broke down this discussion further, as well as whether other Blues could win any awards on the most recent episode of my podcast, the Note News Podcast, which you can find here:
Jimmy Snuggerud is a very promising young skater in St. Louis, and I think he could put his name on the map as the best rookie this season. He has the ability, he has proven it at every level in every situation, he just has to go out and show up the competition like every fan in St. Louis knows he can.