This is the start of the official grades series, here, at Bleedin' Blue. All offseason long, we will be hitting each and everyone of your favorite players grades, and analyzing their performances from the season that passed.
The St. Louis Blues did not have a great all-around performance for the 2025-26 season, but there were some highlights. One of those highlights came from their future face of the franchise, Jimmy Snuggerud. This was his first full go-around the NHL following his emergence in the 2024-25 Playoff push and first-round battle against Winnipeg.
How did he grade in 2025-26?
Expectations for 2025-26
After that initial pop-up at the end of the 2024-25 season, there were some low expectations on the youngster. For Snuggerud, just getting acclimated to the game was a priority, and giving him the first-line treatment seemed possible, but not at first.
A great training camp and preseason secured his placement in the lineup, and then every game was an evaluation. As the year went on, the distance between him and the rest of the prospects continued to stretch further and further.
What happened next was that Snuggerud, much like the rest of this lineup, were involved in the Montgomery shuffle, in which head coach Jim Montgomery moved everyone around for most of the season.
But then, he struck gold, and Snuggeud got hot at the end of the season. The first-line of Snuggerud, Robert Thomas and Dylan Holloway were one of the lines in all of hockey, and it was spearheaded by No. 21.
Overall, Snuggerud finished the year with 21 goals and 30 assists for 51 points. He, and a lot of the other rookies on this team like Dalibor Dvorsky and Otto Stenberg were amongst some of the best performances in Blues history.
Where does he go from here?
For the 2026-27 season, a further emergence is needed from Snuggerud. He has to take his already substantial contribution and turn it up to 11. He has to be ready to carry that first-line magic over from last season to this upcoming one.
With another full offseason, training camp that is predicted to be a rough one, and another preseason in hand, the 2026-27 season should be the curtain call for Snuggerud to enter superstardom. The Blues faithful are holding on to their hats in hopes of tossing them onto the Enterprise Center ice next season to celebrate his first career hat-trick.