In System Forwards Review

Jimmy Snuggerud

Right Wing

Age – 20 (21 on June 1st 25’)

Drafted – 1.23 in 2022

Team – St. Louis Blues

Summary:

Snuggerud seemed to struggle last year with his two former linemates (Knies and Cooley) heading to the NHL in 2023. This year, however, Snuggerud found his form, scoring 51 points, which ranks fifth nationally. His 24 goals this year were also a personal best, with this run including a 6-game goals streak between January 11th and 31st. This impressive performance earned him a call-up, which was fairly impressive. Although at times he struggled in the regular season, he found his groove in the postseason, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists. After this performance, it is safe to say Snuggerud spot on the team is safe for next year.

24/25 Achievements:

-        All-B1G First Team (2nd consecutive year)

-        Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist

-        B1G First Star of the Week 3 times (Nov 12, Jan 21, Feb 4)

-        AHCA West Second Team All-American

-        Captain of the University of Minnesota

Other Notables:

-        29 of 40 games with at least a point

-        16 multi-point games

Concerns:

Snuggerud's defensive play could still improve a lot especially when watching him play in college. However, some of that struggle may have been due to Minnesota playing in an Olympic-sized rink. He seems to have tightened up a little bit recently, especially in the playoffs, but still room for improvement.

Final Season Grade – A

Reason: He improved on the offensive side of the game and was a contributor to the Blues' playoff run. Very few complaints overall. The only thing that knocks him from an A+ is simply the little things that can be worked on over time, such as checking and transitional defense.

Otto Stenberg

Left Wing

Age – 20

Drafted – 1.25 23’

Team – Springfield Thunderbirds

Summary:

At the beginning of the season, there were concerns about Stenberg potentially being a bust. It seems as if he was exposed against mature SHL talent and struggled to find ice time. Even when he did, the lackluster offense and defensive struggles led to concerns. The Blues thought it was best for him to leave Sweden, and he joined Springfield at the beginning of the new year. Here, Stenberg has seemed to find his confidence once again, and the smaller rink size definitely helped his defensive issues. Specifically, his backchecking significantly improved throughout the season. Like always, his international performance was stellar, no complaints there.

24/25 Achievements:

-        Silver Medalist at the WJC20

Concerns:

Although not a game changer, it seems as if Stenberg, as a center, has been completely scrapped, favoring a LW role instead. The bigger concerns come with consistency. There were some games in which Stenberg was invisible on the ice. Physicality also needs to be improved upon, as he lost a lot of board battles this season.

Grade: B

Reason: Started the season as a D but ended strong. I see the defensive improvements, which is why He gets a B and not a B-. The offense could’ve been better, but I’m willing to give him a pass on that front simply because he was a late addition to the Springfield roster. If it were up to me, I would keep Stenberg in Springfield the entire season next year just to improve. There are other players in the minors who are much further along than he is.

Dylan Peterson

Center / Right Wing

Age – 23

Drafted – 3.86 20’

Team – Springfield Thunderbirds

Summary

For years, it has seemed as if Dylan Peterson would just be a grunt. Bigger guy, uses his physicality well, gets in front of the net, wins puck battles, etc. He’s had some 2-way games in college, having double-digit assists his last two years at Boston U, but never actually showed he could produce on the goal-scoring front. However, while all the attention was focused on the flashy new toys of Stenberg and Dvorsky, Peterson was quietly making huge progress. His 13 goals were the most he has ever scored in a season since he was 15 playing AAA hockey. 4 of those goals came in clutch game-winning fashion. The other parts of his game also developed, but you simply have to applaud him for finding his shot.

24/25 Achievements

-        Named Springfield’s “Unsung Hero Award” winner for accolades that reflect consistent effort, leadership, and impact in performance.

Concerns:

The biggest concern for me is whether or not Peterson can keep this offensive upside consistent or if he will downgrade to a full-time grunt. His skating is funky at times, but that seems to be the deal with most big men. Finally, there’s some concern with discipline, with Peterson getting the second-most penalty minutes this year. I know some of that came from fights, but it is still hard to kill penalties if you are in the sin bin.

Grade: A

Reason: The significant uptick in goal scoring, plus slight improvements in other areas, gives him this grade easily. This is a guy I don’t think many know about, but he is showing tremendous upside.

Zach Dean

Center

Age – 22

Drafted – 1.30 (VGK)

Team – Springfield Thunderbirds 

Summary:

Dean is a hard one to judge here; he simply didn’t play a lot due to injuries. Now, the times he was on the ice, I saw improvements, especially defensively. He just wasn’t on the ice that much to make a fair statement besides that.

Concerns:

Health is going to be a big one from here on out. Offensively, I would also like to see more. I know his junior points were inflated due to playing in the QMJHL, but I still expect more. The biggest concern out of everything is that he is no longer a year ahead of all the other centers in the Blues' prospect pool. He went from no competition to a lot because of his injury setback, he will find it difficult to carve out a spot.

Grade: C+

Reason: This might be a bit harsh, but I was hoping to see a half a point per game out of Dean this season, and that simply didn’t happen. Hopefully, he has a full year of development next year, and this year was simply a mild hiccup. 

Simon Robertsson

Right Wing

Age – 22

Draft – 3.71 21’

Team – Springfield Thunderbirds

Summary:

 Simon Robertsson is another Scandinavian who made the move to Springfield this season. Like Dean, injury issues caused him to miss the back half of the season (last played mid-February). Unlike Dean, his offensive numbers are where you would like them to be. The +9 is also very impressive. Probably the thing I love most about Robertsson is simply his shot, it’s a laser to say the least.

Concern:

 Consistency is the major problem. Sure, he had a half a point per game average, but most of his points came from a hot run early January, where he scored 8 of his points in just 6 games. I would’ve liked to see his points spread out much further throughout the season. If he wants to make the jump to the NHL eventually, I would like to see him develop his defensive game a bit more.

Grade: B

Asked for a half a point per game from Robertsson at the beginning of the season, and he hit it on the button. He didn’t make as big of a jump as some of the other guys and has injury concerns, but his high +/- and varying improvements throughout his game keep him from dropping below a B.

Aleksanteri Kaskimaki

Forward

Age – 21

Draft – 3.73 22’

Team – Springfield Thunderbirds

Summary:

At the beginning of the season, it looked like Kaskimaki would’ve been the guy to get all the attention coming into the offseason. He was in the upper echelon of assist leaders in the AHL for a while and was tremendous on the ice, especially on the rush. However, the season went downhill for Kaskimaki towards the end as he ended his season on a 10-game pointless drought and was a non-factor in Springfield’s playoff series. He still was impressive for the majority of the series and even garnered praise from Doug Armstrong at the end-of-year press conference.

Concerns:

I would like to see the defensive play improve, but I wouldn’t put as much pressure on that -6 as he had a -7 +/- from his last 10 games alone. I would like to see a little bit more of tough play as well from Kaskimaki. What impressed me the most when watching him at the World Juniors the last few years was his ability to get in front of the net and cause havoc, and I would like to see him do more of that in the future.

Grade: B+

Reason: Take out that bad stretch at the end, and he gets an A. However, I have to dock him some points for that performance. Still, I think he was the best Scandinavian prospect who came to Springfield this year. It’ll be interesting to see if Kaskimaki can get a spot on the NHL roster at some point next year.