Snuggerud expectations for 25-26 season?

[blues2112]

Expectation? About eight more horrible "nicknames" from people who've never met him.

[Hockey Pete]

A lot of it depends on what line he plays on.
If he's with Thomas most of the year(which I expect to happen), I wouldn't be surprised if he's flirting with 60 points(Boeser had 55 points in 62 games as a rookie; I can see something pretty similar for Snuggy).
If he's playing down in the lineup, I'd expect something closer to Bolduc's output this year(35-40 points).

I also think it's fair to wonder if he'll be in the mix for the Calder. Obviously, he'll have Misa to contend with but otherwise I'm not sure next year has an overly strong rookie class coming up. I would have to think Snuggy's on the early short list.

IMO he'll start on the Thomas line, at least at the beginning of the season, as he has two things going for him going into next season.

First, he had a solid mini-season/playoffs, and he just got better as he went along. He was extremely effective the last 5 games grabbing 3pts and going +4, and showed a full-sheet game.

Second, he's a natural RH/RW. We only have one other on the team in Kyrou, and his line is already established once Holloway returns. Being on Thomas's line doesn't hurt them defensively, as they proved that in the playoffs against the Jets, so the question mark is how long it takes for the offense to kick in.?.?

Just my 2 cents...

[stlblues1979]

The only downside is that he has already had NHL time, so he won't get the benefit of jumping into the season as a complete unknown. Teams will have some tape on him.

Personally, I'd love to see a #1 PP with Holloway and Snuggy as wings for Thomas. You'll have lethal one timers from the off wing from either side. That would be a goalie's nightmare! But the more realistic set up would be to have them split up with one PP feeding the RH one timer ... the other feeding the LH one timer.

Then you add in Bolduc and the quick release he's developed this year.. Mercy.

Would you have Neighbours as your #1 "net front" presence & then Fowler at the point to run the whole unit? That would seem like a truly potent #1 power play unit.

[Hockey Pete]

Expectations? About 1/2 point per game. So around 40 pts if he plays every game.

But I could see him getting 50-60 in the right conditions (glued to Thomas’ hip and getting top PP time). Agree with Kimzey that he’s got a good shot of at least being in the conversation for the Calder. That however, isn’t the expectation. He’s simply not on the caliber of a Misa but a 21 yr old Snuggy could be better than an 18 yr old Misa for sure. Ryan Leonard should be in the conversation too. In the end, I don’t care much about the Calder but it’d be cool if he actually did well enough to win it.

I'm a bit excited for Thomas to FINALLY have a player who's an elite shooter (really the one skill that Snuggy is truly elite at) on the PP. Thomas has always struggled being a top 10 NHL scoring center because his PP numbers have held him back, Snuggy could change that.

Kyrou can snipe, but his damage is done 5v5 because opposing tenders stay deep to counter his speed, and he just has more net to work with. He's not the dynamic scorer on the PP though, as you just have limited ability to take advantage of speed.

Snuggy's another animal when it comes to shooting. Twice I've seen him score on a 90+ mph snap-shot off the top of the FO circle, I mean there's maybe half a dozen guys in the NHL with that ability. That shot is quick, fast and accurate, so it should be a matter of setting everything up and getting the timing down to make it work.

Only time will tell, but I'm of the opinion that our PP next season will be much better than seasons past. Especially now that we have Fowler.

[bluetunehead]

Something in the 35-45 point range would be my hope. 15 goals at least. Less than that would be disappointing. More would be great.

I think he’s capable of a lot more and certainly showed a ton of promise this spring. I just don’t want to get my hopes up too high. The grind of a full season is going to be difficult.

[dhsux]

We've had a brief look at him and for 90% of it we are all rather pleased.

I just hate to put the lofty expectations on him for his first full year...so many intangibles and tangibles that can impact his production, much of which have little to do with him.

I'd prefer to look 2 years out and I'm more comfortable with the more lofty numbers. 65-75 with 30 goals in reach.

Man, that's still a lot of expectation isn't it?

[DawgDad]

Difficult to predict. Whether he stays on the top line with Thomas and Buchnevich all season depends on his 200' game; Blues cannot afford for that line to be minus at even strength. If he does he should be good for 25-30 goals.

Snuggerud should be productive even on a line with Holloway and Schenn. Dropping to the 3rd line would be problematic. No matter how they line up, if the Blues don't upgrade at 3C they will be wasting the offensive skills of a couple of very talented young wingers.

It's quite possible Bolduc plays his way into the top-6 next season. I see him as a top-6 LW before the season's over.

The only way it would make sense to drop Snuggerud to the 3rd is if he's making too many mistakes and becomes a liability. There were moments in the playoffs of careless play (bad decisions with the puck), have to hope he cleans that up. Unless Army makes a move the Blues with everyone healthy and playing to their potential will quite possibly have eight top-6 quality forwards. There's only one puck.

[skilles]

Expectations? About 1/2 point per game. So around 40 pts if he plays every game.

But I could see him getting 50-60 in the right conditions (glued to Thomas’ hip and getting top PP time). Agree with Kimzey that he’s got a good shot of at least being in the conversation for the Calder. That however, isn’t the expectation. He’s simply not on the caliber of a Misa but a 21 yr old Snuggy could be better than an 18 yr old Misa for sure. Ryan Leonard should be in the conversation too. In the end, I don’t care much about the Calder but it’d be cool if he actually did well enough to win it.

I'm a bit excited for Thomas to FINALLY have a player who's an elite shooter (really the one skill that Snuggy is truly elite at) on the PP. Thomas has always struggled being a top 10 NHL scoring center because his PP numbers have held him back, Snuggy could change that.

Kyrou can snipe, but his damage is done 5v5 because opposing tenders stay deep to counter his speed, and he just has more net to work with. He's not the dynamic scorer on the PP though, as you just have limited ability to take advantage of speed.

Snuggy's another animal when it comes to shooting. Twice I've seen him score on a 90+ mph snap-shot off the top of the FO circle, I mean there's maybe half a dozen guys in the NHL with that ability. That shot is quick, fast and accurate, so it should be a matter of setting everything up and getting the timing down to make it work.

Only time will tell, but I'm of the opinion that our PP next season will be much better than seasons past. Especially now that we have Fowler.

Thats the best argument Ive heard to keep Kyrou....One of the absolute best 5v5 goal scorers in the world.

[STL fan in MN]

Expectations? About 1/2 point per game. So around 40 pts if he plays every game.

But I could see him getting 50-60 in the right conditions (glued to Thomas’ hip and getting top PP time). Agree with Kimzey that he’s got a good shot of at least being in the conversation for the Calder. That however, isn’t the expectation. He’s simply not on the caliber of a Misa but a 21 yr old Snuggy could be better than an 18 yr old Misa for sure. Ryan Leonard should be in the conversation too. In the end, I don’t care much about the Calder but it’d be cool if he actually did well enough to win it.

I'm a bit excited for Thomas to FINALLY have a player who's an elite shooter (really the one skill that Snuggy is truly elite at) on the PP. Thomas has always struggled being a top 10 NHL scoring center because his PP numbers have held him back, Snuggy could change that.

Kyrou can snipe, but his damage is done 5v5 because opposing tenders stay deep to counter his speed, and he just has more net to work with. He's not the dynamic scorer on the PP though, as you just have limited ability to take advantage of speed.

Snuggy's another animal when it comes to shooting. Twice I've seen him score on a 90+ mph snap-shot off the top of the FO circle, I mean there's maybe half a dozen guys in the NHL with that ability. That shot is quick, fast and accurate, so it should be a matter of setting everything up and getting the timing down to make it work.

Only time will tell, but I'm of the opinion that our PP next season will be much better than seasons past. Especially now that we have Fowler.

Yeah, Snuggy with Thomas should be fire. Kyrou and Buchy are obviously good but you’re right in that Thomas just hasn’t had a pure sniper on his wing in his career yet.

But also agree with others that if Snuggy seems to slow down a bit (adrenaline wears off, the grind of an 82 game season sets in, whatever) then I could absolutely see him on the 3rd line too. Which is fine. There’s no free lunches in the NHL and our 3rd line should be pretty good too.

[Hockey Pete]

Expectations? About 1/2 point per game. So around 40 pts if he plays every game.

But I could see him getting 50-60 in the right conditions (glued to Thomas’ hip and getting top PP time). Agree with Kimzey that he’s got a good shot of at least being in the conversation for the Calder. That however, isn’t the expectation. He’s simply not on the caliber of a Misa but a 21 yr old Snuggy could be better than an 18 yr old Misa for sure. Ryan Leonard should be in the conversation too. In the end, I don’t care much about the Calder but it’d be cool if he actually did well enough to win it.

I'm a bit excited for Thomas to FINALLY have a player who's an elite shooter (really the one skill that Snuggy is truly elite at) on the PP. Thomas has always struggled being a top 10 NHL scoring center because his PP numbers have held him back, Snuggy could change that.

Kyrou can snipe, but his damage is done 5v5 because opposing tenders stay deep to counter his speed, and he just has more net to work with. He's not the dynamic scorer on the PP though, as you just have limited ability to take advantage of speed.

Snuggy's another animal when it comes to shooting. Twice I've seen him score on a 90+ mph snap-shot off the top of the FO circle, I mean there's maybe half a dozen guys in the NHL with that ability. That shot is quick, fast and accurate, so it should be a matter of setting everything up and getting the timing down to make it work.

Only time will tell, but I'm of the opinion that our PP next season will be much better than seasons past. Especially now that we have Fowler.

Thats the best argument Ive heard to keep Kyrou....One of the absolute best 5v5 goal scorers in the world.

Kyrou can be scary good when he wants too, and Holloway being his opposite wing really opens up the ice for him. Man he needs to work on that intensity...

[Hockey Pete]

Expectations? About 1/2 point per game. So around 40 pts if he plays every game.

But I could see him getting 50-60 in the right conditions (glued to Thomas’ hip and getting top PP time). Agree with Kimzey that he’s got a good shot of at least being in the conversation for the Calder. That however, isn’t the expectation. He’s simply not on the caliber of a Misa but a 21 yr old Snuggy could be better than an 18 yr old Misa for sure. Ryan Leonard should be in the conversation too. In the end, I don’t care much about the Calder but it’d be cool if he actually did well enough to win it.

I'm a bit excited for Thomas to FINALLY have a player who's an elite shooter (really the one skill that Snuggy is truly elite at) on the PP. Thomas has always struggled being a top 10 NHL scoring center because his PP numbers have held him back, Snuggy could change that.

Kyrou can snipe, but his damage is done 5v5 because opposing tenders stay deep to counter his speed, and he just has more net to work with. He's not the dynamic scorer on the PP though, as you just have limited ability to take advantage of speed.

Snuggy's another animal when it comes to shooting. Twice I've seen him score on a 90+ mph snap-shot off the top of the FO circle, I mean there's maybe half a dozen guys in the NHL with that ability. That shot is quick, fast and accurate, so it should be a matter of setting everything up and getting the timing down to make it work.

Only time will tell, but I'm of the opinion that our PP next season will be much better than seasons past. Especially now that we have Fowler.

Yeah, Snuggy with Thomas should be fire. Kyrou and Buchy are obviously good but you’re right in that Thomas just hasn’t had a pure sniper on his wing in his career yet.

But also agree with others that if Snuggy seems to slow down a bit (adrenaline wears off, the grind of an 82 game season sets in, whatever) then I could absolutely see him on the 3rd line too. Which is fine. There’s no free lunches in the NHL and our 3rd line should be pretty good too.

Agreed, as having that cannon does you no good if you don't put in the work to get to that position. The opposition isn't going to just let you skate there and fire away. Brett Hull is the greatest sniper in NHL history (also a college kid that entered the NHL from Minnesota), and it took him 4 seasons before he broke out.

But like Brett Hull, Snuggy landed on a line with a great setup guy (as I believe Thomas is one of the best in the NHL), so let's hope we see fire in the near future.

[skilles]

Expectations? About 1/2 point per game. So around 40 pts if he plays every game.

But I could see him getting 50-60 in the right conditions (glued to Thomas’ hip and getting top PP time). Agree with Kimzey that he’s got a good shot of at least being in the conversation for the Calder. That however, isn’t the expectation. He’s simply not on the caliber of a Misa but a 21 yr old Snuggy could be better than an 18 yr old Misa for sure. Ryan Leonard should be in the conversation too. In the end, I don’t care much about the Calder but it’d be cool if he actually did well enough to win it.

I'm a bit excited for Thomas to FINALLY have a player who's an elite shooter (really the one skill that Snuggy is truly elite at) on the PP. Thomas has always struggled being a top 10 NHL scoring center because his PP numbers have held him back, Snuggy could change that.

Kyrou can snipe, but his damage is done 5v5 because opposing tenders stay deep to counter his speed, and he just has more net to work with. He's not the dynamic scorer on the PP though, as you just have limited ability to take advantage of speed.

Snuggy's another animal when it comes to shooting. Twice I've seen him score on a 90+ mph snap-shot off the top of the FO circle, I mean there's maybe half a dozen guys in the NHL with that ability. That shot is quick, fast and accurate, so it should be a matter of setting everything up and getting the timing down to make it work.

Only time will tell, but I'm of the opinion that our PP next season will be much better than seasons past. Especially now that we have Fowler.

Thats the best argument Ive heard to keep Kyrou....One of the absolute best 5v5 goal scorers in the world.

Kyrou can be scary good when he wants too, and Holloway being his opposite wing really opens up the ice for him. Man he needs to work on that intensity...

I actually didn't realize until you mentioned it that he scored that many 5 on 5 goals, thats a pretty big deal. I don't really care about his intensity as much as effectiveness. Obviously I'd like to see him play harder than he did in these playoffs but I think he was obviously hurt. I'd really more like to see him be more "slippery" and use his speed and agility to avoid getting crushed. Maybe more head up/awareness.

Be interesting to see how having a 2nd right shot with some elite skills plays out.