With preseason right around the corner and training camp starting even before that, the St. Louis Blues are preparing for the 2025-26 season to be a great one. There are several things to look forward to this upcoming year, but only one really stands out above the rest.
Where is Jimmy Snuggerud going to play, and how well will he do with a full 82-game schedule?
FanSided's Emma Lingen has a fantastic piece on where he should play in the Blues lineup this upcoming season, and it shouldn't come as a surprise. What should come as a surprise is a piece by The Athletic, stating what tier amongst a plethora of NHL prospects that Snuggerud is in.
Let's discuss it.
Was Snuggerud low-balled?
According to Scott Wheeler, he placed Snuggerud as a 4B in a pool of 122 NHL prospects. This ranking system goes from Tier 1, which is MVP-caliber prospects and young stars, down to Tier 5, which is the bottom of the barrel but still good talent.
Snuggerud, who has a very small sample size of just a handful of games last season and then the first-round matchup against Winnipeg, was placed in the Star category. As of now, it makes complete sense to put him there, due to the fact of how unknown his first full season is going to be.
The eyes should be on who is around him at the 4B category. Snuggerud's talents and impact on the game have him hovering around a couple of players, like San Jose star William Eklund and Seattle center Shane Wright.
When preseason kicks in and then the eventual season, there are a number of things that could happen with #21. The first being, that the young prospect shows everyone that last season's small success was not a fluke and scores a ton of goals. Or, they could have been right in placing him as low as they did, as his untapped potential doesn't shine through just yet.
Either way, the Blues have a plan for him. It is just going to take some time to figure out what kind of trajectory Snuggerud has.