The St. Louis Blues made a surprising announcement on Thursday, revealing the future plans for their management team. With general manager Doug Armstrong signed until 2026, the plan is for him to be promoted to President of Hockey Operations while Alex Steen, who was promoted to assistant general manager on Thursday, will become the new general manager in 2026.
Steen spent parts of 12 seasons as a player with the Blues and was a part of their Stanley Cup winning team in 2019.
Where did this move come from? And is it the right plan to put in place? Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk talked about the news and the bold plan to put long-term hopes in Steen on Daily Faceoff Live.
Frank Seravalli: I definitely wasn’t aware of how high on Alex Steen the St Louis Blues and Doug Armstrong are. It boils down to this: Armstrong already had a contract through 2026. He tacks on an extra three years where he’s going to remain as the President of Hockey Operations at least through that period of time. So you’ve got Armstrong through 2029 after the 2025-26 season, Steen, who was promoted to Assistant General Manager today, is going to take over as GM and he’s going to have Armstrong above him as the President of Hockey Ops.
To me, it’s interesting to outline plans this specifically. If I’m not mistaken, the Blues also got to a spot where they had a succession plan in place with Ken Hitchcock and I don’t think that worked out all that well.
Tyler Yaremchuk: You plan, God laughs for the religious types.
Frank Seravalli: Look, we’ll see what ends up happening. But the point being, and the major news nugget here is, the blues are big believers in Steen.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Yeah it is interesting. Again, Steen is going to take over in 2026, but the Blues haven’t made the playoffs in a couple of years. Are you saying you’re just happy with whatever happens the next two seasons?
Frank Seravalli: (moves Tyler in front of him) Here, let me just take you and position you as the human shield that Armstrong just acquired.
You can watch the whole episode here…
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