Steen back with Blues as European player development consultant

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Alexander Steen has been back on the ice for the St. Louis Blues, more than two years after announcing his retirement from the NHL.

The 39-year-old is working for the Blues during their prospect camp, which was held from July 1-4, after being hired as a European player development consultant last week.

"It's great. Really good to be back, yeah," Steen said Monday. "Things have kind of calmed down family-wise, and you let yourself kind of unwind after a long time playing and everything that comes with that. Just took some time but stayed up to date and kept tabs a lot. Obviously, you miss it from the first day. I missed St. Louis a lot, too. I haven't been in and out as much as I had hoped here after I retired, but lately I have been coming back a little bit more. Happy about that."

Steen, who was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round (No. 24) of the 2002 NHL Draft, had 622 points (245 goals, 377 assists) in 1,018 games over 15 seasons with Toronto and St. Louis, including 496 points (195 goals, 301 assists) in 765 games with the Blues after being acquired in a trade on Nov. 24, 2008.

Playing on the fourth line with Ivan Barbashev and Oskar Sundqvist, Steen helped the Blues win the Stanley Cup for the first time in their history in 2019.

A little more than a year later, on Dec. 17, 2020, Steen retired from the NHL due to multiple levels of degenerative herniated disks in his lumbar spine.

"There's so many memories. The connection we had with the city and on a personal level, how much so many people have helped me out throughout ... this is home for us," Steen said. "Even though we haven't been physically living here in the last couple years, it's still like home for us. We come back here and it's just like we never left. We were here in April and May for a long time. All the fans, the passion that's in the town. You see what's going on with the St. Louis soccer team (St. Louis City SC) too. All that stuff kind of comes out when you see the logo now. It's got a big meaning, for sure."

Prior to taking the job with the Blues, Steen had spent the past two years working as a sports manager for IF Sundsvall Hockey, which plays in HockeyEttan, a third-tier league in Sweden.

"Mostly like helping with strategic things," Steen said. "The European clubs are obviously built differently with your under-9s all the way up to junior teams under-18, under-20 and then your men's team. It's been a lot about trying to help that club strategically, talking with the city about helping get more ice times, help them build a gym, and just creating better tools for the players that are there and then growing the girls game as well. There's a lot of girls that started playing hockey in the last few years, like it's really growing over there. Trying to support them with that, and then obviously my dad's with the juniors a little bit more, and I've been with the men's team a little bit more helping them."

Steen's day-to-day duties with the Blues will include helping to develop, among others, theirthree first-round picks from the 2023 NHL Draft: center Dalibor Dvorsky (No. 10), center Otto Stenberg (No. 25), and defenseman Theo Lindstein (No. 29). Each played in Sweden last season.

"I think just help supporting the kids, and especially now, we drafted a few Swedes there in the first round," Steen said. "Even 'Dali's playing over in Sweden too. I'll be talking to those guys. This week's been great. I'll have a personal connection with the guys, getting to know them on a personal level. Obviously, very talented hockey players.

"Our guys know. They have a good eye on these kids. It's more on if they just have questions about character or other things like that, if there's anything else they can support their opinions with, but great character kids. They've got a lot of passion. This week's been great. It's been a lot of fun."

Steen added that it took him a little bit of time to adjust to working on the hockey operations side of things, but he's excited to be back with the Blues and NHL.

"I wouldn't say (the transition has been) easy. It's taken a long time to unwind, to like calm down a little bit," Steen said. "That's been a little bit of an adjustment. But now, the pace of life is a little bit slower and things like that. It's been great. Spending a lot of time with the family, but I'm really excited about this. It's fun. You've got great kids and you're back and working with the guys here and this organization. I'm pumped."

Photos courtesy: St. Louis Blues