Blues prospect Jimmy Snuggerud will shoot the puck.
Playing for Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he attempted 15 shots against Latvia on Dec 26. Fifteen! Snuggerud earned 11 scoring chances and made seven clean offensive zone entries in that game.
He followed that with a goal and three assists as Team USA throttled Finland 6-2 on Friday. Snuggerud is generating positive buzz among independent analysts at the event.
Blues fans should take note of this promise as they keep one eye on their team's struggles and one eye on what might come next.
Transition is inevitable for this franchise. While Blues general manager Doug Armstrong still hopes his injury-battered team can muster a run this season, he stands ready to expedite the retooling if it doesn't.
Armstrong raved about the strong team culture that has kept the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Blues' American Hockey League affiliate, competitive this season in the face of injuries.
That is a marked contrast to the Blues' team game, which has deteriorated. That Armstrong expressed reluctance to expose prospects to that environment this season was telling.
Players with expiring contracts could move elsewhere before the trade deadline as Armstrong starts adjusting the team makeup. The Blues have a handful of promising prospects, but they must acquire many more to strengthen the long-term talent base.
In the near term, forwards Jake Neighbours and Nikita Alexandrov and defensemen Tyler Tucker will test themselves at the NHL level after key forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O'Reilly joined defenseman Torey Krug on the injured list. Later this season, offensive defenseman Scott Perunovich will try to complete still another comeback from still another injury.
Snuggerud and Zachary Bolduc are longer-range hopefuls for a team needing more firepower up front. The Blues hope they will work their way into the long-term foundation with cornerstone forwards Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas.
"What you want to do is control expectations. Snuggerud's having a great year. Bolduc is having a very good year, Jake (Neighbours) ... but they're 20, 19 and 18," Armstrong told reporters. "And so their impact is going to come in probably two or three years, which is probably very good for this organization, because Thomas and Kyrou are still just going to be hitting their absolute steady prime at that point."
The Blues drafted Snuggerud No. 22 in last season's NHL Draft. He is a winger with a right-hand shot — like the again-departed David Perron — and good instincts.
After two productive seasons with the U.S. National Developmental Team, Snuggerud pumped in 12 goals in his first 20 games at the University of Minnesota this season and four goals in his first four games at the WJC.
Scouts have long cited his playmaking ability and offensive zone puck retrieval too — and these are elements the Blues must add to future rosters. While Snuggerud is not a transformational prospect like Connor Bedard, the likely first overall pick this year, he could fill a need.
Neighbours, the 26th overall pick in 2020, is another key piece. He gained seasoning this season while playing big AHL minutes on the wing, He began building more offensive confidence while scoring seven goals and earning two assists in his last nine games.
Given Armstrong's warning against raised expectations, we won't reiterate that he has Scott Mellanby-like potential as a power forward.
Bolduc, the 17th overall pick in 2021, is putting up the crazy numbers one would expect a skilled forward to post in the free-wheeling Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He had 22 goals and 33 assists in his 29 games this season.
It will be interesting to how he fares at the next Blues training camp with additional physical and emotional maturity. Can he strengthen his game away from the puck? How much AHL time will he need?
Alexandrov became an impact player in Year 2 in the AHL, and he hasn't looked out of place in the NHL. But the Blues must make certain he develops fully before he graduates.
The same goes for Tucker, who offers the combativeness that Robert Bortuzzo adds to the blue line. He could make it as a No. 6/No. 7 defenseman if he adds sufficient polish.
Goaltender Joel Hofer appears to be taking those final steps for the Thunderbirds this season while playing behind a team with a strong defensive structure but not much firepower.
"A guy like Joel Hofer, he's been fabulous down in the American Hockey League this year," Armstrong said. "You look at his numbers, they're off the charts. Again, playing in front of a team that doesn't score for him but plays the right. So there's a lot of positives with some of these younger players that we can build off of. But you need to control expectations."
Armstrong also reminds us what it will take to make this transition. Remaining competitive through the process will be challenging.
"Like Kyrou," he said, "where he is today and where he was as a 19-, 20-, 21-year-old, you can't rush time and you can't rush experience."
