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Prospect Info: Jimmy Snuggerud, 23rd Overall, 2022 NHL Draft

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If Snuggerud was thinking of returning for another year, the reaction from the fanbase may push him right out the door.
 
I certainly can't speak to what was going on with Snuggy down the stretch and I didn't watch enough of the Gophers to try and guess whether he was injured, checked out, lazy, frustrated, unlucky, and/or facing the extra focus of opposition strategy.

But the end of his season wasn't a cause for excitement. He had 3 goals, 1 assist, and a -6 in his last 10 games, which included a scoreless 2 games in the regional round of the big tournament. He was their best player and that is not good enough.

Whatever was going on, I think there is reason to question whether airdropping him into the NHL this week is the best decision. The Blues will very obviously have a better idea of where he is at and what is best for him. But from the outside looking in, I see a case to be made for sending him to the AHL for the rest of this season.
 
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He's just not a guy that's going to carry a line on his own and put up big numbers. Not worried at all. Minnesota was not a very good team this year.
 
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I'm sort of in agreement with that. I imagine we'll want to unveil him tonight as a signing, and then we don't play till Thursday, so at a bare minimum, he'll get some practice time to get involved with the team. Since we really aren't pushing for the playoffs at this point, there is no point in throwing him in and hoping he catches fire to boost us. Look him over, make sure he isn't carrying any injuries, and if he is good to go, get him some amount of action, but I'm also fine if they make him earn some minutes, instead of getting a gift.

His production down the stretch could be explained away, there could be valid reasons, but at the same time, he shouldn't be viewed like Tarasenko in 12/13 who had great production in KHL during the lockout, and was able to immediately step into a big role. I'm not really worried about him long-term. It's more about setting himself up for success for next season.

I don't think the games at the NHL level or AHL level to close the year are really going to matter, and I don't think it even matters if he plays any games at all. He'll benefit by practicing with the big club, training with them, and just getting into the pro routine. At camp, it'll be up to him if he's NHL or AHL.
 
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bleedblue1223 said:
I don't think the games at the NHL level or AHL level to close the year are really going to matter, and I don't think it even matters if he plays any games at all. He'll benefit by practicing with the big club, training with them, and just getting into the pro routine. At camp, it'll be up to him if he's NHL or AHL.
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I think one advantage of going to the AHL instead of the AHL is that Springfield is currently in a real battle for a playoff spot. They are 2 points back of Lehigh Valley and we have taken a lot of their talent for the NHL team recently.

I agree that neither place he could go will make or break his long-term development, but I bet that there are way more meaningful minutes available for him to take in Springfield than there are up here.
 
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Brian39 said:
I think one advantage of going to the AHL instead of the AHL is that Springfield is currently in a real battle for a playoff spot. They are 2 points back of Lehigh Valley and we have taken a lot of their talent for the NHL team recently.

I agree that neither place he could go will make or break his long-term development, but I bet that there are way more meaningful minutes available for him to take in Springfield than there are up here.
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Like Parayko did that was key to their success years ago.
 
Linkens Mastery said:
If Snuggerud was thinking of returning for another year, the reaction from the fanbase may push him right out the door.
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He's just one fan. I don't know that he is anymore representative of the Gophers fan base with his hatred of Snuggy than I am representative of ours with my dislike if certain players.
 
Majorityof1 said:
He's just one fan. I don't know that he is anymore representative of the Gophers fan base with his hatred of Snuggy than I am representative of ours with my dislike if certain players.
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Oh, head to any message board or to twitter and you'll see it's definitely not just me. And it's not hatred, it's disappointment.
 
Overthinking over, Jimmy Snuggerud begins NCAA tourney re-focused on a title

I think this is worth posting again. Snuggerud was having a very good season, did very well at WJC, despite being pretty sick. He was productive in his return to Minnesota and then cooled off. He had a nagging injury, and it's probably normal for focus to drift towards NHL as a national championship seemed unlikely.

I don't really care about his performance down the stretch, I'm more curious on what that injury was and to what level he's current at with it. If he's not 100%, I don't see the upside in playing him, but if he's good to go, get him some minutes. And I'm fine not rushing him either, if his body needs a rest before he gets in, give him a rest.
The younger Snuggerud was a vital force in helping Team USA win a gold medal at the 2024 World Juniors, and while some return from Europe exhausted, Jimmy was invigorated. In his first six games with the Gophers in January, Snuggerud had seven goals and was being mentioned as a likely Hobey Baker Award finalist. Then things slowed down, perhaps due in part to a nagging injury that didn’t keep Snuggerud off the ice, but kept him from feeling 100%.

In Snuggerud’s final 11 regular season games, he scored once — the overtime winner at Notre Dame on Feb. 17, which is the last time the Gophers played on the road. After a practice as he prepped for the regional round, Snuggerud admitted that the biggest detriment to his production may have been in his own head, where the talk of individual awards and whether this would be his final season of college hockey seemed to cloud the focus on what was immediately in front of him.

“The past five weeks have been really average. I think that falls on me and on my mind. Too much over-thinking,” he said. “The last three weeks I’ve told everyone around me to stay quiet. I’m going to focus on the NCAA regions and winning a national championship.”
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bleedblue1223 said:
Overthinking over, Jimmy Snuggerud begins NCAA tourney re-focused on a title

I think this is worth posting again. Snuggerud was having a very good season, did very well at WJC, despite being pretty sick. He was productive in his return to Minnesota and then cooled off. He had a nagging injury, and it's probably normal for focus to drift towards NHL as a national championship seemed unlikely.

I don't really care about his performance down the stretch, I'm more curious on what that injury was and to what level he's current at with it. If he's not 100%, I don't see the upside in playing him, but if he's good to go, get him some minutes. And I'm fine not rushing him either, if his body needs a rest before he gets in, give him a rest.
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I don't think the article reports that he had a nagging injury. I read that as the author speculating that he could have a nagging injury. The word 'perhaps' is doing a lot of heavy lifting there and it isn't clear to me whether the author meant 'perhaps this injury I know about contributed to the slowdown' or 'perhaps he had a nagging injury which contributed to the slowdown.'

I haven't seen any actual report about an injury and I think that phrasing would be a strange way to break that news. Given the scope of that author's coverage, I'm not at all ready to take that article as confirmation that he got injured. He very well may have been playing through an injury that impacted his play, but I don't think that line is enough to just take it as a fact. Especially since the rest of the article is talking about how the biggest factor in his slump was mental.
 
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Bonin21 said:
Oh, head to any message board or to twitter and you'll see it's definitely not just me. And it's not hatred, it's disappointment.
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Oh yes, twitter is the best place to go to see what rational people think.

Also, snarky messages like yours are not disappointment. It might not be hatred, but there is some level of malice beyond mere disappointment
 
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Brian39 said:
I don't think the article reports that he had a nagging injury. I read that as the author speculating that he could have a nagging injury. The word 'perhaps' is doing a lot of heavy lifting there and it isn't clear to me whether the author meant 'perhaps this injury I know about contributed to the slowdown' or 'perhaps he had a nagging injury which contributed to the slowdown.'

I haven't seen any actual report about an injury and I think that phrasing would be a strange way to break that news. Given the scope of that author's coverage, I'm not at all ready to take that article as confirmation that he got injured. He very well may have been playing through an injury that impacted his play, but I don't think that line is enough to just take it as a fact. Especially since the rest of the article is talking about how the biggest factor in his slump was mental.
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That's fair.
 
Jimmy is coming back to the Gophers. Right decision. Think his dad helped him see it was needed.

Need to see a refreshed energy and effort next season.
 


Interesting choice…obviously was hoping to see him in the NHL sooner than later, but maybe it’s best for his development to get another year in the NCAA.
 
stl76 said:


Interesting choice…obviously was hoping to see him in the NHL sooner than later, but maybe it’s best for his development to get another year in the NCAA.
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disappointing. I think the AHL would be a much better spot for development.
 
You just hope he's still committed to the Blues. I am expecting him to have a monster season though. This year I gave him some slack because of less talent around him and the goals were still there, but for his junior year, that shouldn't matter.
 
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Xerloris said:
disappointing. I think the AHL would be a much better spot for development.
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Charter planes and college girls and friends is appealing.

bleedblue1223 said:
You just hope he's still committed to the Blues. I am expecting him to have a monster season though. This year I gave him some slack because of less talent around him and the goals were still there, but for his junior year, that shouldn't matter.
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The team around him will be mostly the same. So if he has a poor season are you going to bring that excuse back out?
 
I do wonder if NIL with the big programs play a factor now. He's certainly going to make more in college than at the AHL level, likely less than NHL though.
 
Bonin21 said:
Charter planes and college girls and friends is appealing.


The team around him will be mostly the same. So if he has a poor season are you going to bring that excuse back out?
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If goals per game is still about the same, it won't be a huge deal, but I would expect overall numbers to increase. It would be silly to pretend that Cooley and Knies didn't help boost his assist numbers.
 
Yea I personally feel like he'd get more out of playing in the AHL, but he seems pretty committed to winning in Minnesota. I worry about whether he wants to play in STL or not. If he gets to free agency and doesn't sign with the Blues, the Wild would be glad to have him.
 
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