The St. Louis Blues missed the playoffs this season, finishing with a 37-33-12 record and four points back of a wildcard berth. Many of their players regressed, contributing to the slide from last season's near-upset in the first round, and a lot of the blame rests on the players--but so, too, should the organization be criticized for the decisions they did (and didn't) make.
The Blues have implemented a succession plan for the front office--quite possibly the first organization to institute such a thing. Alex Steen is slated to take over from Doug Armstrong as general manager this summer, and he will hopefully guide the Blues back to relevancy.
That return to relevancy could've happened sooner--possibly saving the season--if Armstrong hadn't been a lame duck. The succession plan put the organization in an awkward place, and the team paid the price.
The Blues' season went off the rails relatively early: they were 9-10-7 by the end of November, and it was clear the team was going to have a difficult path to the postseason in a top heavy Central Division; they'd have to battle for one of the two Western Conference wildcard berths.
Instead of trying to salvage the season, Armstrong let the roster flounder. At the helm for 16 years, most other organizations likely would've decided a new voice was necessary, perhaps firing Armstrong before the calendar flipped in an attempt to wake up (or even shake up) the roster. But, with Armstrong's replacement already named and primed to take over in the summer, why bother? Just let the season play out.
Steen is set to take over this summer, and maybe that will get the Blues back on track for next season. We're left to speculate, however, if making a front office change a few months ago might've saved the season, and whether or not the succession plan prevented that sort of sweeping change.
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