Blues Make Smart Move By Elevating Steen To GM In 2026 – Hockey Writers – St. Louis Blues
St. Louis Blues announced a succession plan that includes Doug Armstrong signing an extension to serve as President of Hockey Operations through 2028-29, while Alexander Steen will take over as the team’s general manager in 2026. The two will work together at least. through the 2028-29 season, unless Armstrong decides not to stay with the team for the remainder of his extension or ownership returns otherwise.
There’s no doubt that the Blues are ready to move forward if they land the top of their front office. Owner Tom Stillman was hesitant to make the change at first, “I believe we have the best general manager in the league so the idea of us changing and getting someone different, at first, I was against that, but we just talked again. we talked over time and I saw the importance of bringing a new voice and a new way, a new face, a new way of doing things at another time. ” Let’s get into why it’s a smart move.
Steen Has Earned This Opportunity
The Blues brought Steen back to the club in the summer of 2023. Joined as European Player Development Consultant. The club clearly values his input after taking three European players in the first round of the 2023 Draft. All prospects taken in the first round of the 2023 Draft (Dalibor Dvorsky, Theo Lindstein, Otto Stenberg) played in Sweden at some point. They have emphasized adding more European talent to the draft since expanding their scouting staff overseas and Steen is a part of that.
Steen brings a lot to the organization and has a smart hockey sense. He played more than 1,000 games in the NHL, including 765 with the St. He is respected by the players and coaches, which is good to have. He has the next two seasons to learn a lot from Armstrong as well. Armstrong really respects Steen, “I kept coming back to him, coming back to him. When I told Mr. Stillman, he said, ‘He has no idea.’ If you take someone you truly believe in, experience will come. We can lose a good person for a wrong reason.”
This is good for Steen in general. He would probably get a shot as general manager even if it was St. Louis or not. I think he will do a great job and deserves a lot of input alongside Armstrong when the 2026-27 season starts.
Armstrong Remains a Valuable Part of the Franchise
Stitman still believes in Armstrong as an important part of the franchise, and he’s right to think so. They couldn’t throw Steen into the role immediately without learning more under him. Smart organizations make these types of moves. Winless organizations rush into these types of decisions, and some may believe the Blues should have forced Armstrong out, but that’s not the right thing to do right now.
Related: St. Louis Blues Announce GM Succession Plan From Armstrong to Steen
Armstrong hasn’t been great the last few years, but he’s not walking away from the problems he’s caused, which I respect. There is still work to be done this summer and he has to be smart about his approach. He’s the point man for the 2028-29 season, but having another voice around could change the way he does things. I know Blues fans aren’t his biggest fans right now, but he’s done a lot for this franchise and he still deserves a little rope to fix the problems he’s caused.
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