Rumors that Blues will name former player as team's new GM

Yesterday the St. Louis Blues officially announced that they would be holding a press conference today to announce a 'major hockey operations announcement'.

The news has seemingly come out of left field and there's been plenty of speculation about what the move could be, but most fans and analysts seem to agree that long-time Blues GM Doug Armstrong could be stepping down from his position. Armstrong has been with the Blues since 2008 and helped to deliver a Stanley Cup championship in 2019, but the team has taken a bit of a step backward in recent seasons. The Blues have failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Final the past two seasons and, frankly, they don't look like a team on the rise.

There were rumors floating around social media that former Blues player turned executive Alex Steen could be up for a promotion to the GM position and ESPN insider Kevin Weekes seemed to confirm that speculation with an image posted online yesterday evening.

Weekes simply posted a photo of Steen to his timeline:

That's... a bit cryptic... not gonna lie.

It's unclear what this means exactly from Weekes, but don't be surprised if Steen is unveiled as the Blues' new GM later today. Or, perhaps, he'll move into a new role alongside Armstrong to eventually become his successor. That move seems more likely to me, but the rumor mill has run with the 'Steen as new GM' idea so we'll just have to wait to see how things play out.

Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman also reports that Steen will receive an "increased role" in the team's front-office, but didn't go so far as to say that he'll be named GM. 

Still, the rumors persist that Steen will be named GM, so again we'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.