Blues' Alexander Steen retires because of back injury

The St. Louis Blues announced on Thursday that 15-year forward Alexander Steen is retiring because of a serious back injury. 

According to the club statement, Steen is dealing with "multiple levels of degenerative herniated discs of his lumbar spine" that he suffered during the 2019-20 regular season.

The 36-year-old was able to compete in the early stages of the NHL restart over the summer but played in only four games before he was sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs. St. Louis fell to the Vancouver Canucks in the opening round of the postseason. 

"This has been an emotional process," Steen told the club's official website. "But as I look back on my years in hockey, I would like to thank our organization, our city, our fans and my teammates as I am so proud of all the teams I was part of."

Steen made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs in October 2005 and then joined the Blues via a trade in November 2008. He rose to third in Blues franchise history with 91 postseason appearances and retires fourth on the club all-time list in games played (765), fifth in points (496), sixth in assists (301) and ninth in goals (195). 

Steen helped the Blues win the Stanley Cup in the spring of 2019. In total, he tallied 245 goals and 377 assists across 1,018 career regular-season games.