"I Told Him The Ultimate End Of The Season Would Be To Pack A Big Suitcase When He Comes To St. Louis For The Final Four, Win That And Then Come To Us." -- Blues GM Doug Armstrong Understands Why Jimmy Snuggerud Wanted To Stay Behind One More Year

Turns out that Jimmy Snuggerud was right all along.

That’s what St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said on Tuesday.

A first-round pick (No. 23) in the 2022 NHL Draft, the Blues wanted Snuggerud to turn pro after last season, but the 20-year-old felt he needed to improve certain skill sets, desired to lead and ultimately, try and help the Minnesota Golden Gophers win a national championship.

The Blues may not have agreed right away but respected an understood. Now they know why.

“Yeah, and we talked about that,” Armstrong said. “We obviously made a push to get him to come and he was honest. He felt like he could grow there on and off the ice. We weren’t sure what type of team they were going to have this year. College hockey, it changes, but he thought they were going to have a really good team and he thought he could be a big part of that and he was right, and I said that to him yesterday, ‘What you projected was right. You’re on a very good team and you’re an important player.’ Now it’s to maximize that.

“He is getting better and he’s learning and he’s doing things. I’m not sure there would have been a wrong answer. If he would have come with us, it would have been fine too. He’s maximizing this year and I think that’s a testament to him and also the head coach of the Gophers and their program to put him in a great spot on a competitive year.”

The Golden Gophers are (17-3-2) are ranked third in the nation behind Michigan State (17-2-1) and Boston College (12-3-1), and the junior has 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) on the season, tied for second in the nation in scoring.

He’s not only on a good team, but he’s chasing a dream, one that has a shot at ending right here where Minnesota's captain will one day tote the Bluenote: the Frozen Four at Enterprise Center April 10-12.

That’s what Blues brass, including Armstrong, coach Jim Montgomery and GM-in-waiting Alex Steen told Snuggerud over dinner on Monday.

“He’s hoping to, I told him the ultimate end of the season would be to pack a big suitcase when he comes to St. Louis for the Final Four, win that and then come to us,” Armstrong said. “I’m hoping he plays into the Final Four and wins a national championship.

“One of the things we left him with was, ‘Keep your head where your feet are,’ and right now his feet are at the Gophers and we want his head to stay there and the rest will take care of itself. He’s having an exceptional year. He went back with the purpose of having an exceptional year of he’s telling us what he’s working on in his game and also off the ice, he has a leadership role there as a 20-year-old. That’s very important for his growth. He’s having a really good year and he’s excited about the push here that they have. They have 16 regular season games left and he wants to maximize those and obviously win a national championship. But I do see there’s an opportunity for these guys to push onto our team in the near future, whether it’s at the end of this year or have a massively competitive training camp next year.”