Yes. Everyone thinking we would pick D here because we haven't taken one in a while doesn't understand how Blues think. Not saying team made best pick- I don't know any of these guys well enough for that- but Army's picks tend to be Army picks.
Consider that we flipped Sammy Blais for Buchnevich. The guys we value and develop are valued league-wide eventually, and that productive, bottom-6 players are usually the guys going for high prices at the trade deadline every year. This pick is "safe," but it's smart. You take guys that will push for playing time in the NHL. The last two times we went for upside, it blew up in our faces spectacularly (Bokk, Kostin). When you're picking in the twenties in weak draft years, just take the guy you think that will for sure make it. Is Snuggerud that guy? Time will tell, but it seems like he's got the qualities we value, a low-ceiling high-floor kind of guy that we like, like Neighbours, who was similarly unexciting at the time. If our bottom-6 is full of 1st rounders 5-6 years from now, who is complaining about that? Probably nobody, provided that Doug continues to stock the top-6 with good picks in strong draft years (Thomas, Kyrou) or through trade/free-agency. Big ifs there, obviously. But this is a "whatever" pick for me right now, regardless. Weak year, our strongest needs (D) were gone by the time we picked, this guy will likely play... I get it. Good luck to Snuggy at Minny next year, hope he shows what he's worth there!
