The narrative on Snuggy didn’t just start with the early season game, it dates back to last season, post WJC.
He wasn’t good. He looked tired, slow to the play and generally disinterested. That (large) dip in play was used as rationale for why he made a good decision to return, but, I know I along with a few others here and on the NCAA forum felt that was not a choice in his developments best interest. Personally, maybe it was the only choice.
His situation in Minnesota just isn’t as good, or conducive to development as what it might seem, IMO. Motzko’s priority is winning, and I haven’t been overly impressed with how he’s used and deployed Snuggy.
It’s a situation where -as a sniper- he’s too good for the NCAA, but as an all around hockey player, he’s not quite ready for the NHL. Which is kind of the same story it has been with him for awhile now. Comparatively, a player like Dvorsky is making much larger leaps in challenging himself.
I’m still optimistic Snuggy can be an impact player for this franchise, and potentially the partner Thomas has been waiting on. He’s good at virtually every facet of the game. I just don’t know that those facets have changed much over the last 1.5years.
