Doug Armstrong's tenure as general manager of the St. Louis Blues will come to an end sometime next offseason, and Alex Steen will officially take over by the beginning of the 2026-27 season.
There should be no doubt that Army will pass on the legacy of the greatest GM the club has ever seen, meaning Alex Steen has lofty expectations and big shoes to fill.
Of course, he will not be alone in his endeavors, as Army will still serve as an advisor to Steen; but he and the Blues had the foresight to recognize that all good things must come to an end, and it is better to create this transition plan rather than have terms end sour for both sides.
Doug Armstrong: The Monolith of the St. Louis Blues
Doug Armstrong began his tenure as general manager of the Blues in the summer of 2010, and ever since, the team has experienced one of its greatest stretches of hockey in franchise history. This, of course, culminated in a Stanley Cup championship in 2019.
Armstrong is the only Blues GM to ever win a Stanley Cup, which might be reason enough to call him the greatest the team has ever had. Some might point to mistakes of Army's to make a case that he was frustrating at times and therefore not the greatest, but on top of the most difficult feat in hockey, Armstrong built a perennial winner with both great regular-season and postseason success throughout the 2010s.
Especially relevant to this discussion and to Army's success is his draft record, which you can read more about in an earlier piece I wrote.
Into the 2020s, the success was not as easy to come by, and the result of some all-in moves during the cup contention window looked like they would set the team back years, forcing them to enter a rebuilding period.
But once again, Army would not be defeated by league trends and what is supposed to happen. He created his own luck and turned the Blues around into a contender once again in only two and a half years, a far cry from some rebuilds of other formerly great NHL teams like Chicago or San Jose.
Key acquisitions Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg, and Cam Fowler as well as many other depth moves turned the Blues into a threat in the Western Conference once again during the 2024-25 season. And they look poised to be entering a new window of cup contention for the next 6+ years, right as Army exits stage right.
Alex Steen: Heir to the throne
Steen got in with the front office staff as soon as he retired in 2020, but did not start working in hockey operations until the 2023-24 season, where he served as a European development consultant.
Steen developed a very close relationship with Armstrong, and clearly stood out amongst the other NHL scouts and minds in the Blues front office, earning the title of Army's successor.
As a former player who helped with recruiting during his time on the ice, Steen knows how to evaluate and acquire talent in his own way. Armstrong has taken Steen under his wing to observe and serve as assistant general manager from 2024 to 2026, whereupon Steen will take the keys to the club from Armstrong and attempt to follow in the legacy of his mentor.
Blues fans should be excited by the well-thought-out succession plan of the Blues front office, demonstrating a level of transparency and preparedness not often found in sports management front offices.
Despite the monstrous legacy set by Doug Armstrong, Alex Steen has all the tools at his disposal to pick up right where Army left off. With support from his old mentor, his own unique experience as a player and front-office assistant, and the support of the entire Blues organization and fanbase, it looks like the next decade of Blues hockey will be another of winning and prosperity.