It appears that general manager won't be the only front office position changing for the St. Louis blues this year. NHL insider Darren Dreger is reporting that Kevin Maxwell and Peter Chiarelli are both leaving their positions with the organizaton.
The @StLouisBlues front office is changing with Kevin Maxwell and Peter Chiarelli leaving the club to pursue other opportunities. Chiarelli is a candidate in Nashville’s interview process and Maxwell is expected to return to the New York Rangers in a management role.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) March 27, 2026
It's well known that, this summer, GM Doug Armstrong will be stepping aside and handing the reins to Alex Steen. There's no surprise, then, that other members of the front office will be moving on as well.
Chiarelli joined the Blues in September of 2021 as the vice president of hockey operations. Prior to that, he'd been the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers from 2015 to 2019; though aside from drafting Connor McDavid, he made quite a few disastrous managerial decisions as well, such as trading Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson, trading away the draft pick that became Mat Barzal, and signing Milan Lucic to a massive 7-year, $42 million contract. Before his time with the Oilers, Chiarelli was the general manager of the Boston Bruins for nearly a decade, winning a Stanley Cup with them in 2011. However, the strong start to his tenure was derailed by bad trades and poor contracts, and he was fired in 2015.
Barry Trotz, current general manager of the Nashville Predators, indicated he'd be stepping down from the position at the end of this season, as the Preds have had a rollercoaster few years with Trotz at the helm. It will be interesting to see what Chiarelli's learned at Doug Armstrong's side in whatever his next role is--especially if it's managing a division rival.
Maxwell, the general manager of the Springfield Thunderbirds--the Blues' AHL affiliate--will be leaving as well. He was the director of pro scouting for the New York Rangers for 15 years, and will be returning to the Original Six franchise.
With these two key departures, Alex Steen will have quite a lot of hiring to do once he takes over as general manager of the Blues.