ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The St. Louis Blues held a press conference Thursday to make a major announcement regarding their hockey operation’s department, announcing former Blues forward Alex Steen will become the Blues 12th general manager in franchise history in 2026.
Current Blues GM Doug Armstrong has signed a three-year contract extension and will continue leading the club as president of hockey operations through the 2028-29 season. Armstrong will be GM and President of Hockey Ops for the next two years, and then will become the President of Hockey Operations the three years after that.
As part of the succession plan, Alex Steen will be special assistant to the GM for two years, and then will succeed Armstrong as GM after that in 2026.
"Earlier this year, Doug started making the case to me that it was start to move towards a new general manager," said Blues owner Tom Stillman. "It probably wasn't surprising to Doug that I was open to moving towards a new GM, I also wanted to make sure the Blues organization would keep the man I would consider the best general manager in hockey."
Armstrong, 59, is set to enter his 15th season as Blues general manager in 2024-25. During his tenure, the Blues have won fifth-most regular-season wins (601) in the NHL, including four of the top five regular-season point totals in franchise history.
Steen played for the Blues from 2008 to 2020, amassing 195 goals and 496 points. Steen finished his career in the top five in Blues franchise history in games played(fourth) and points (fifth). Steen also finished his career sixth in assists with 301 assists.
Steen saw many memorable moments during his time with the Blues, with one of his most notable moments being an overtime winning goal in Game 1 of the Blues Western Conference Quarterfinals series against the Los Angeles Kings in 2013. The Blues would however lose the series to the Kings in six games.
Steen won the Stanley Cup in 2018-19 and played a role on the Blues fourth-line that postseason alongside Ivan Barbeshev and Oskar Sundqvist.
Steen's playing career ended after the 2020 season, announcing his retirement due to a back injury. After his retirement, he joined the Blues hockey ops staff. In his role, he has helped the in the assessment and development of Blues prospects playing in Europe, including two of the team’s 2023 first round draft picks.
The club also announced that Tim Taylor has been promoted to join Ryan Miller as an assistant general manager with the club. Taylor will continue to oversee player personnel while Miller oversees salary cap compliance, contract negotiations and other hockey operations responsibilities.
This story is breaking and will be updated as soon as more information becomes available.