Jimmy Snuggerud Off and Running for the Blues and the Calder Trophy

The 2025-26 NHL season is just underway, and already, St. Louis Blues forward Jimmy Snuggerud is turning heads with his early contributions. 

Through the first three games, the 21-year-old rookie has tallied two goals and three points, showing the scoring touch that made him a standout in college and on the international stage. With a blend of skill, deployment, and opportunity, Snuggerud is positioning himself early on as a dark horse candidate for the Calder Trophy, potentially giving the Blues a legitimate Rookie of the Year contender for the first time since Barret Jackman won the award in 2003.

Snuggerud's NHL career is still in its early stages, with 10 regular-season games under his belt adding three goals and seven points. But his quick start this season builds on a foundation of proven success. The 6-foot-1-inch forward Chaska, Minnesota, Snuggerud honed his game with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (USNTDP), where he posted 24 goals and 39 assists in 59 games during the 2021-22 season. From there, he starred at the University of Minnesota, amassing 66 goals and 135 points over three seasons with the Gophers, placing him 42nd in program history for career points and 33rd for goals. In his junior year (2024-25), he served as a team captain, led the squad with 24 goals and 51 points in 40 games, earned Big Ten First Team All-Star honors, and was named a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. 

Internationally, Snuggerud has been a force for Team USA. He played a key role in the Americans' gold-medal win at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, scoring the team's first goal of the tournament in a victory over Norway and contributing throughout the event. This history of clutch performances in high-stakes environments has translated seamlessly to the pro level, where Snuggerud signed with the Blues in March 2025 after his college season ended. 

This season, Snuggerud is off and running, benefiting from significant trust from the Blues' coaching staff. 

He saw top-six deployment in the first two games, skating alongside high-end forwards Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich and making an immediate impact. While the results were not on the scoresheet, his effort and high-end hockey IQ were certainly on display. In the third game, he shifted to the third line alongside Pius Suter and Mathieu Joseph where he netted his first two goals of the season. This season, Snuggerud has been a fixture on the first power-play unit, where his lethal shot and playmaking ability shine. 

Through these early contests, he's averaging around 14:30 of ice time per game, a top-five forward rookie workload for across the NHL that could only grow as his confidence and acclimation to the NHL continues. The Blues, who have been rebuilding around young talent, could have more than a capable player in Snuggerud when it comes to the Rookie of the Year race. His combination of offensive instincts, defensive reliability, and experience in big moments sets him apart. 

However, the Calder Trophy field is stacked this year, with Snuggerud facing stiff competition from a talented crop of first-year players. Defensemen like Zeev Buium and Matthew Schaefer bring elite blue-line skills, while fellow rookie forwards Ivan Demidov and Beckett Sennecke offer dynamic scoring threats. Add in a list of other promising rookies across the league, and the battle for top honors will be fierce.