"It was quiet really around the League, just a few moves," Armstrong told stlouisblues.com about the final hours leading up to the 2 p.m. CT deadline. "Now we're excited to have this group. There's a good challenge ahead of us. We're currently in a playoff spot and we want to maintain that and build on it."
During an exclusive 10-minute interview with FOX Sports Midwest's Darren Pang, Armstrong reiterated the Blues' goal of reaching the Stanley Cup Playoffs, saying the club will need to rely on the remaining veteran leaders to do it.
"There's going to be a lot of exciting reasons to watch our group play," Armstrong said. "Younger players (will be) making a statement, but for us to have the success we want to have, our goal is to make the playoffs and anything can happen when you get there. We're going to need (Paul) Stastny, (Alexander) Steen, (Jay) Bouwmeester… we're going to need the cagey veterans to help us do the heavy lifting."
In addition, Armstrong discussed a shifting core of players, namely Vladimir Tarasenko, Robby Fabbri, Jaden Schwartz, Alex Pietrangelo and Joel Edmundson. Armstrong said the Blues will be supplementing that core with younger players soon, which includes names like Jordan Kyrou, Tage Thompson, Vince Dunn, Jordan Schmaltz and Ivan Barbashev.
Click "PLAY" on the video above to see Armstrong's complete interview following the trade deadline.
