Poll: Who wants Steen taking over?

[Bacchk29]

We’ll know soon enough if Steen has any freedom to run things his way or its status quo. I have a hard time believing it will change with Stillman and Army around.

This is my thinking too.

Army isn’t totally gone. He’s still in a position of power within the Blues organization. He will still have a say in how the roster is constructed whether that’s spelled out directly or not.

The Blues need a clean break from Armstrong. Let him go about working for Hockey Canada as they prepare for the Olympics and the continued image rebuild.

The less interaction he has with this organization going forward, the quicker we can get a new mindset and ideas in place.

https://www.nhl.com/news/doug-armstrong ... -president

I remember the article. Key word in that is oversee. How much will there be? $64000 question.

[Rollin' on the River]

I wish they would go with a completely different mindset than what they’ve had for the last 10-15 years. HOWEVER, the fact that we’ve had organizational stability for the same
Time period is nice. Teams seem to fire/replace GMs every 3-4 years and don’t let an organizational mindset develop.

I still feel like going in a different direction is best for this franchise, but I don’t know who you hire as a young GM with a freshmindset. All of the GMs that come available are recycled around the league it seems.

I admire that this team has identified a former player in Alexander Steen to hand the reigns off too. Not only has he contributed on the ice (856 GP as a Blue, Stanley Cup Champion, 532 Points & +42) and off of it (Hired to FO 2023), but he was a NHL hockey brat who grew up around the Game w/his dad accumulating +850 points in +1,000 GP.

To recap, his dad was a successful NHLer. He grew up around it. He came of age with the Franchise (12 Years), retired and became a valuable FO asset by aiding in both European Scouting (Dvorsky, Stenberg, Lindstein, Jiricek, & Harenstam) and Player Development, and now learning under one of the Best GM’s in the Game (See SC Championship, see Team Canada).

Where’s the problem?

If you want a different direction, European mindset vs Canadian is PRETTY DIFFERENT.

The problem is the management above him being unable or unwilling to step aside and letting him function as his own entity.

That’s my concern.

[Rollin' on the River]

We’ll know soon enough if Steen has any freedom to run things his way or its status quo. I have a hard time believing it will change with Stillman and Army around.

This is my thinking too.

Army isn’t totally gone. He’s still in a position of power within the Blues organization. He will still have a say in how the roster is constructed whether that’s spelled out directly or not.

The Blues need a clean break from Armstrong. Let him go about working for Hockey Canada as they prepare for the Olympics and the continued image rebuild.

The less interaction he has with this organization going forward, the quicker we can get a new mindset and ideas in place.

https://www.nhl.com/news/doug-armstrong ... -president

That article pretty much says exactly what I hope they avoid.

[Frank Barone]

Army will be in the same job next year that he is in this year, President of Hockey Operations. Next year Steen will have the GM title. I imagine Steen will handle more contracts, travel with the team more and be visible with the media.

Go back and watch Andy Strickland's interview with Tom Stillman prior to this season. What I remember from the interview is that pro and amateur scouting will still report to Army, along with analytics and Springfield/player development (not Steen).

This is all good from my perspective. Believe it or not, Army is on a hall of fame track. Why hand off all of his responsibilities at once when he wants to stay? I'm fine with letting Steen take on responsibility a piece at a time.