The Gophers get their top scorer back for at least one more year
The Minnesota Golden Gophers hockey team and its fans got some good news earlier on Tuesday when it was announced that sophomore forward Jimmy Snuggerud would stay with the Gophers and will return for his junior season next fall. Snuggerud was widely though to be likley to sign with the St. Louis Blues after the Gophers season ended, which it did in a 6-3 loss to Boston University on Saturday. But Snuggerud said that he has unfinished business with Minnesota and will look to help the Gophers try and bring home a nattional championship next season.
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) April 2, 2024
Snuggerud was selected #23 overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. The Blues had appeared very interested in signing him and even appeared to look to play him this week in a game if he decided to turn pro. But instead Snuggerd will play a third season with the Gophers something that it was reported his dad, Dave a former Gopher and NHL player as well, wanted him to do.
In 79 career games with Minnesota over two seasons, Snuggerud has averaged over a point a game. He hads 84 points in a maroon and gold sweater evenly split with both 42 goals and assists. His 21 goals this past season led the team as did his six game-winning goals and six power-play tallies. By scoring over 20 goals he joined a very small club at the U to do it in back to back seasons. Snuggerud joined Nick Bjugstad, Ryan Potulny, Thomas Vanek, Troy Riddle, and Erik Westrum as Gophers to score 20 or more goals in back-to-back seasons since 2000 and only he and Vanek accomplished that milestone in their first two collegiate seasons. He will have a very good chance to make it three in a row next year.
The Gophers next task is to try and find some help for him in the goal scoring department. It’s possible Minnesota may have an inside track to add another first round NHL draft pick to join him. Mathew Wood played his first two collegate seasons for UConn and entered the portal on Monday. He was the #15 overall selection by the Nashville Predators in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Reportedly the steam from several college hockey analysts was that the Gophers were solidly in the mix to add Wood to their roster for next season—something that can only be helped by the return of Snuggerud. In two years with the Huskies Wood has recorded 62 points and 28 goals.
Minnesota also saw their first senior offiically sign a NHL deal on Tuesday as 5th year senior Jaxon Nelson signed a one-year entry level contract with the Boston Bruins. He will play the rest of this season on an amateur try out contract with the Bruins AHL team in Providence and could make up to 850,000 next season if he can make the Bruins roster.