Snuggerud adapting quickly to life in NHL with Blues

Jimmy Snuggerud got a crash course in life in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues last season. He believes using what he learned in 14 games between the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs will provide a foundation for him to be a fixture as a top-six forward.

"As a player, that's what you hope and dream of," he said during the NHL Players' Association Rookie Showcase in September. "I'm going to go into camp kind of with an attitude that I don't have that spot yet ... because nothing's guaranteed. So, I'm going to try my best and I'm going to work as hard as I can for it."

So far, the work has paid off for the 21-year-old.

He's heading into a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, TNT) coming off the most productive game of his short NHL career, scoring two goals, including the game-winner, in a 5-2 victory at the Vancouver Canucks on Monday.

Snuggerud has three points (two goals, one assist) in three games, tied with forward Jake Neighbours (three goals) for the Blues’ scoring lead.

"He just worked," St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said of Snuggerud after the game. "He was all over pucks. He was tenacious on pucks, hounding them, and then obviously that release is pretty special on the first goal. And the second goal is where you score goals, right around the net."

Selected by the Blues in the first round (No. 23) of the 2022 NHL Draft, Snuggerud signed his three-year, entry-level contract March 28 after he finished his third season at the University of Minnesota. He made his NHL debut four days later against the Detroit Red Wings.

Snuggerud had four points (one goal, three assists) in seven regular-season games, including a goal and an assist in the first period of a 6-1 victory against Utah in the regular-season finale on April 15 that allowed St. Louis to clinch a playoff berth. He then had four points (two goals, two assists) in seven games against the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference First Round.

Showing how much trust he gained in a short time, Snuggerud’s average ice time of 17:05 per game during the postseason outpaced his 15:28 during the regular season.

"Very impressed with the young man," Montgomery said at the time. "His hockey sense is off the charts, and I think with a really good summer putting on some lean muscle mass, he's just going to be better."

To get stronger, Snuggerud spent the offseason training with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe. It helped him add seven pounds of muscle to get up to 6-foot-1, 193 pounds.

"Both those guys, Knies (6-3, 232) and LaCombe (6-2, 208), are big dudes," Snuggerud said. "So, to kind of get on their eating schedule and stuff like that has helped me a ton."

He also learned that as important as it is to be stronger, equally valuable is knowing when and how to use that strength.

"It's a hard league; it's the best League in the world," Snuggerud said. "You learn so much in so few games. I feel like just the rim plays in the offensive zone and catching pucks off the wall and being quicker off the wall is something that was super important.

“I tried to work on that a lot this summer, and then also net driving, I think, is super huge in this league. Being able to kind of power guys through and get to the net is something you need as a trait."

That shined through on his two goals Monday.

On the first one, he cut under Canucks defenseman Elias Pettersson and skated through the slot, collected a loose puck at the bottom of the left face-off circle and snapped a shot past goalie Kevin Lankinen at 8:48 of the first period to open the scoring despite momentum carrying him away from the net.

Then on the game-winner, Snuggerud got to the edge of the crease to knock in a rebound for a power-play goal that gave the Blues a 3-1 lead at 8:13 of the second period.

"He's a goal-scorer, and goal-scorers find different ways to score goals, and he's got a quick release on him," St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn said Monday. "Not only that, but he's able to find open areas to shoot the puck and find rebounds, and he does a great job of getting to the net. And when he does, he has a hell of a release."

The next step is to stay consistent through an 82-game season, and beyond. It's something else Snuggerud learned from Knies and LaCombe, who also made the jump from the University of Minnesota to the NHL.

"I feel like the one biggest thing that I kind of learned from them is just it's a long year," Snuggerud said. "In college, you're only playing 34 regular-season games, so being able to kind of get developed to an 82-game season is a lot and your body's going to go through a lot of ups and downs. But it's all about kind of enjoying it and kind of living in the moment.

“I feel like that is what they told me to kind of just value the most. It gets long, but you just have to embrace it."

Snuggerud’s teammates are excited to see what it will look like when he does.

"He knows how to score goals, knows to go to the right areas," Schenn said. "And I think with him, he's only getting better as he goes here. It's a tough league and guys are starting to understand who he is and for us, anything we do to try and help him, but he's getting better day by day."

NHL.com independent correspondent Kevin Woodley contributed to this report