Blues Hockey Ops succession plan explained

The St. Louis Blues made a major announcement regarding the future of their hockey operations staff during a press conference at Enterprise Center on Thursday morning.

The event was opened by Blues Chairman Tom Stillman, who laid out a succession plan that involved a new contract extension for President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong, two additional promotions, and the naming of the Blues’ next general manager - Alexander Steen.

If you missed any of it, here are the answers to the questions you need to know.

How long will Doug Armstrong stick around?

Armstrong had two years remaining on his contract as the Blues’ president of hockey operations and general manager. At Thursday’s press conference, Stillman announced that Armstrong had signed a three-year extension will keep him as president of hockey operations through the 2028-29 season.

What is Alexander Steen’s new role?

Steen has been working with the Blues’ European prospects for the last year, but will now be returning to St. Louis for a bigger role as special assistant to the general manager. Steen will serve in that capacity for two seasons, learning the ropes from Armstrong before eventually becoming the 12th general manager in franchise history.

When will Steen become GM?

After the 2025-26 season.

At that point, Armstrong will drop the “general manager” title and serve the remaining three years of his contract as president of hockey operations. Steen will be general manager beginning with the 2026-27 season.

What other changes were announced?

Tim Taylor, who has worked with the Blues since 2011 as the director of player development and most recently director of player personnel, has been promoted to assistant general manager. Taylor will work on the player side of things, while current Assistant General Manager Ryan Miller will remain to work on logistics - such as salary cap implications, contracts, etc.

When was this all decided?

Stillman said today’s announcement has been in the works for awhile.

“It wasn’t surprising when early this year, Doug started making the case to me that it was time to start moving towards a new general manager,” Stillman said. “And it probably wasn’t surprising to Doug that I was open to moving to a new GM, but I also wanted to make sure the Blues organization would keep the man I considered (to be) the best manager in hockey."

These moves accomplish all of that, setting the Blues up for the now - and also the future.