The St. Louis Blues introduced their youth movement right in the most hectic and chaotic part of last season. And boy, did it inject a bolt of electricity into this squad and this franchise.
During their record-breaking 12-game win streak to clinch the final spot in the Western Conference Wild Card race, the Blues had help from their young stars. Jimmy Snuggerud and Dalibor Dvorsky were those two young guns, with one making a little more of a lasting impact than the other.
After Dylan Holloway went down with a season-ending injury at the beginning of April, the emergence of Snuggerud came to be. His first games as an NHLer were in the middle of a tight playoff hunt and then into the postseason against the best team in hockey this season, the Winnipeg Jets.
Expectation for 2024-25
There was not much of an expectation for Snuggerud at the NHL level for the 2024-25 season. Around mid-season, General Manager Doug Armstrong made a statement that would resonate throughout the season and come to fruition at the end of the year.
In 2024-25, he was playing college hockey at the University of Minnesota, and he shined bright enough to be a Hobey Baker finalist. In 40 games, Snuggerud had 24 goals and 27 assists for 51 points.
Snuggerud made the jump to the NHL following the end of his college hockey campaign, and he came in firing on all cylinders. There were no nerves, no worry coming from the 20-year-old rising star. The Blues needed a valid replacement when one of their best went down, and they got it from a kid who hasn't played at the NHL level before.
This continued for the last seven games of the regular season, and then the seven-game series against the Presidents' Trophy winners in the first round of the playoffs. During the regular season, Snuggerud finished with a goal and three assists for four points, and then in the playoffs, he added another two goals and two assists for four more points. Outside of the statsheet, he was a dominating force and was lethal with the puck on his stick.
In such a short amount of time, he made an everlasting impact that begs the question of just how much better he will be with his first full season coming up in 2025-26. This offseason will be a crucial one for him, and this upcoming season could have some Calder Trophy implications.