St. Louis Blues prospect, 23rd pick in 2022 NHL Draft feels he has unfinished business at University of Minnesota, needs more maturity before turning pro

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Jimmy Snuggerud was in quite the quandary, in what was one of the toughest decisions he was faced with.

The St. Louis Blues prospect needed days to sort through his feelings. Would be or won't he?

Simple words that ultimately had life-altering decisions for the 20-year-old.

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Snuggerud had to decide whether he should turn pro and sign his first pro contract with the Blues, or return to the University of Minnesota.

It was nearly a week's worth of agonizing days, and in the end, to the surprise of some and not so much to others, the 23rd pick in the 2022 NHL Draft decided he wasn't ready to become a pro, and there's some unfinished business at Minnesota.

"There was a lot of factors honestly," Snuggerud said. "A piece of not wanting to rush it, a piece of wanting to win a national championship and a piece of being a leader in that program I think is what it came down to for me. It really wasn't an easy decision. I consider it the hardest decision of my life. I factored in all those things. I woke up one morning and that's what my decision was and I'm sticking with it.

"... I thought about it for a minimum five days just constantly thinking about it night and morning. It was hard, but those are the things I decided to do."

The Golden Gophers, who were eliminated in the Sioux Falls Regional championship game by Macklin Celebrini and Boston University 6-3 last year to fall one game short of reaching the Frozen Four in Minnesota, and fell to Quinnipiac 3-2 in overtime in the NCAA Championship game two years ago in Tampa, is something Snuggerud wanted to experience: an NCAA title.

Falling ever so close once and fingertips away from having a second chance is something Snuggerud hasn't gotten over, even with a terrific financial future awaiting.

"That's one of the biggest pieces. It's an itch," Snuggerud said last week at development camp. "When you don't achieve something as a person you want to achieve, it sits in my mind especially when I didn't think I played to the best of my ability in the regional final. Towards the second half of the season, I just felt I wasn't ready at that point. I can hopefully make an even better push next year. Our whole team can."

And there's the leadership aspect, something Snuggerud received from playing with the likes of Jackson LaCombe, Brock Faber, Colin Schmidt, Bryce Brodzinski, Ryan Johnson, Jaxon Nelson and Matt Staudacher as upper classmen. Snuggerud is in those shoes now.

"That's a huge piece for me," Snuggerud said. "Being able to lead the freshmen and lead the transfers we have coming in. We have such a great leadership at Minnesota. We're going to be an older team. It's one of the biggest pieces for me is maturing as a person and as a player and I think leadership comes along with that."

The Blues were certainly hoping Snuggerud, who had 34 points (21 goals, 13 assists) in 39 games a season ago after 50 points (20 goals, 30 assists) in 40 games as a freshman, would make the jump. They certainly felt he was ready to take the next step but respect the decision that the player would like to achieve a goal and mentally and physically feeling like he needs more work to make the jump.

"He and I had a good chat the first day and I told him what a massive part of our future that he is, how I respected his decision, how he came about his decision and how we want him to maximize his year, but I expect him to be here at the end of this season and not only be here, I expect him to have a good enough season where he steps into our lineup at the end of the season," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said of Snuggerud. "That's his goal, that's our goal.

"Everyone develops in a different area, but the goal is to get to the same place. His goal is to get here and our goal is to support him, so when he's here, he's ready to take off."

The majority of Blues fans have expressed their support, but there are others have voiced their concerns, feeling like the player is balking at wanting to come to St. Louis and will give the Blues the Jimmy Vesey treatment and some feeling like he's afraid to commit. The Blues definitely support the player.

"He wants to go back, he wants to get bigger, he wants to get stronger, he wants to be a leader there," Blues assistant GM Tim Taylor said. "We support his decision. When he's ready, he's going to turn pro and he's going to be a real good St. Louis Blue. We're just there to help him and help him along and making sure that he's getting bigger, getting stronger, doing the right things, understanding the details on the ice. Those are things he's going to learn and go through, so he's going to play on a good team again this year, he's going to be a leader. That's another step when these kids come out, you want them to be leaders, you want them to be counted on every single night. He's going to get that at Minnesota.

"For him, he's just not mentally ready and every situation is different. If he was mentally ready, he would have come out. And he just doesn't feel he's mentally ready to take that next jump as of yet. He is close, and we support him because I think this is going to be a great year for him. He's looking forward to it. All his teammates are back, they're working out now, skating. It's a good situation for him."

If a player isn't mentally ready to commit, he more than likely also isn't physically committed. But being around the prospects for the second year -- the forward missed on-ice activities last year due to a hip flexor injury -- motivates one to prolong that process of being ready in all facets.

"Yeah, it does. Just kind of being in this locker room and some of the staff and guys giving me some stuff for it," Snuggerud said. "It's nice just to be here, be in this atmosphere and be back here."

Those that have seen Snuggerud play know he will be of great benefit to the Blues one day utilized with a terrific shot, potentially being a one-time threat particularly on the power play, something the Blues have lacked since David Perron was not brought back.

The shot is very good and probably NHL ready, but other aspects of the 6-foot-1, 186-pound right-handed need fine-tuning and more polishing.

"There's definitely some aspects. I think skating and speed is one of the biggest pieces for me," Snuggerud said. "I think I have improved over the past two years, but it can get even better and then small area stick-handling, just having better hands in tight areas. I think that college hockey has gotten to a point where it can help me improve. It's such a high level of hockey that I can be the best at that level and I can bring it over to the pro level."

Some of those things were on display for Snuggerud, who did salvage last season by playing on USA's gold medal-winning World Junior Championship squad, which defeated hometown Sweden and fellow Blues prospects Otto Stenberg and Theo Lindstein.

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Snuggerud had eight points (five goals, three assists) and was a plus-7 in six games.

"It was crazy," Snuggerud said. "The loudest rink I think I've ever played in. Sweden atmosphere was pretty nuts honestly. They were screaming the whole game and you're going against such good talent like 'Stenner,' Lindstein and those guys. You realize at the end of the game how big and how important that game was for USA hockey."

With a clear mind and clear conscience, Snuggerud was able to talk to Armstrong here since he made his decision. He'll go back to school, make a run towards another championship, which could very well culminate with a trip to the Frozen Four right here in St. Louis at Enterprise Center April 10-12.

"I talked to Doug a little bit for a couple minutes," Snuggerud said. "I obviously haven't talked to him since the decision. It was nice of him to bring me in for a couple minutes and talk to me. It's what good GM's do and he's the best of the best and he does it the right way.

"... Alumni coming back that work out at the gym said they think I made the right choice. Just people respecting my decision as a person and as a player. I think that's what it truly came down for and not rushing the process."