Recently inducted Blues Hall of Fame members Alexander Steen, family of Al Arbour and Barret Jackman drop the ceremonial puck with St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn (10) and Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal (11) prior to the NHL on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo. (Source: West Newsmagazine/Lou Countryman photo)
Lou Countryman
There is a changing of the guard this season at the top of the organization for the St. Louis Blues.
Alexander Steen will be the 12th general manager in franchise history in a move announced recently by St. Louis Blues Chairman Tom Stillman and President of Hockey Operations Doug Armstrong.
Steen, 42, has spent the last two seasons with the Blues as the special assistant to the general manager, where he has been closely involved with the day-to-day decision making regarding all aspects of the hockey operations department.
He also served as a European development consultant for the Blues in 2023-24, then helped Sweden with the World Juniors in 2024 and the Olympics in 2026.
All that has helped prepare Steen for his new role with the Blues.
“Playing the game was my dream as a kid. This has been exhilarating,” Steen said. “Challenging myself, learning new things on the fly, yeah, it’s been an incredible two years.
“I’m very familiar with the organization. “I’m familiar with Tom and Doug. I’ve got a great group of people around me. That is obviously a great asset for me.”
Steen knows he won’t be alone as he moves forward.
“It takes a village. We have great collaboration between all of our departments and our management group on decisions we want to make and how we weigh them and discuss them and are open to suggestions,” Steen said. “Doug and I have the same view of our plan and kind of work for what’s best for the St. Louis Blues.”
Steen spent 12 seasons playing with the Blues. He enjoyed a 15-year career, where he appeared in 1,018 regular-season games, recording 622 points (245 goals, 377 assists).
Steen came to St. Louis in a 2008 trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs for Lee Stempniak.
He immediately made his mark as a talented player with the Blues.
Steen was a key factor on the Blues’ fourth line when the team won the Stanley Cup in 2019.
Steen appeared in all 26 postseason games that season. He helped the Blues capture their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
He retired in 2020 because of a back injury. It all culminated with a 2026 induction into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Steen replaces Armstrong as the general manager.
The 61-year-old Armstrong moves solely to the role of president of hockey operations after 16 seasons as the Blues general manager, the longest tenured GM in franchise history. In his new role, Armstrong will oversee the strategic direction of the team’s hockey operations department.
During his tenure as the Blues GM, Armstrong compiled a record of 682-427-132 in 1,241 regular-season games. His number of games as the Blues GM, as well as his wins, are the most in franchise history. His 682 wins as the Blues GM shares the number 12 spot in NHL history for a general manager with one franchise.
Armstrong said Steen is ready for the new position after mentoring him in the past two seasons.
“I’m excited to work with him,” Armstrong said. “I couldn’t think of a more deserving person to be the GM of the St. Louis Blues. One thing I always admired about Alex is he pushed to make me a better GM every day. We challenged each other – he challenged me, he made me think outside the box.
“He made me understand that he and I owed it to each other to do the best we could do and ultimately to get that Stanley Cup and to share that with him was very meaningful. I couldn’t be more proud or honored to pass the torch to Alex. He’s going to do a great job here.”
Postseason play has become a rarity in the last few seasons for the franchise.
Last season, the Blues finished four points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
Robert Thomas, the new team captain, is optimistic that is going to change.
“From my standpoint, I’ve loved my time in St. Louis,” Thomas said. “I love it here, I love the organization, the city. These last couple of years have been tough. We want to be really competitive every year, and we’ve only had one full year of that.
“I’m coming into the prime years of my career now, (and) I want to have success here and a really successful team. Whether that’s stepping up in my leadership and my play, all those are aspects of the game and puts that accountability on me, so I’m really excited.”