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 also 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, 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 in December 2020 due to a back injury. After his retirement, he joined the Blues hockey ops staff. In his role, he has helped the Blues in the assessment and development of Blues prospects playing in Europe, including two of the team’s 2023 first round draft picks.
"When (Steen) retired we stayed in touch, he's joined out staff in a variety of ways," said Armstrong. "I've been to Europe to meet, travel, talk with him and it just became clearer and clearer he had everything you need in a General Manager besides experience."
Armstrong says for the next two years it will still be business as usual, with Steen joining Armstrong and Blues staff to scout players, then will take the reigns.
Steen says he knows he needs patience to get ready for his future role and patience is something he learned from his dad Thomas Steen.
"I know I have lots to grow in, but l'm surrounded by great people and I'm just really excited right now," said Steen. "There is only one way to get the experience and that's by going through it. It's nothing that can be rushed."
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.