5:15pm: St. Louis has officially announced a five-year extension for Armstrong. The extended term begins at the end of the current season and will see Armstrong become the longest-tenured GM for St. Louis. A member of the Blues since 2008 and the top executive since 2010, Armstrong is carving out a special place for himself in the history of the franchise.
2pm: The Blues have called a press conference for 5:00 PM CT today for what they’re describing as a “major announcement”. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic and ESPN’s Kevin Weekes report (Twitter links) that the announcement will be a multi-year contract extension for general manager Doug Armstrong.
Armstrong has been working in an NHL front office for close to three decades now after starting out with Minnesota as their assistant back in 1992-93 before the franchise moved to Dallas. He stayed with them until being let go partway through the 2007-08 season but caught on with the Blues soon after, starting as their Director of Player Personnel in 2008-09 and being promoted to GM two years later, a role he has held ever since, making him the fifth-longest-tenured GM in the league at the moment.
Armstrong has brought in several core players to the Blues in recent years including centers Ryan O’Reilly and Brayden Schenn plus defenseman Justin Faulk through trades while inking blueliner Torey Krug and winger Brandon Saad over the last two offseasons in free agency. St. Louis has made the playoffs in all but two seasons with Armstrong at the helm with their best performance coming in 2019.
Rutherford notes that Armstrong was signed through this season with an option for the 2022-23 campaign. It appears that option will be exercised with more years tacked on or torn up entirely as part of this new agreement.
How did he mess up that up? Coming off a shoulder injury & carrying a $7.5mil cap hit.
Oh yeah, I forgot that it was Doug Armstrong MD.
Ooh is that the new series on fox? I think I’ve heard of it…
@backhandinbaptist – Yes, he has a semi-hidden addiction to prescription drugs, and, being especially sneaky, he always goes to the restroom at odd times, for his suppository fix. When he comes back to the team meeting, he’s usually mumbling something about “intestinal turmoil.” So far, no one in the organization has caught on.
Lol I love both of your comments but just wait in year 5 of his contract army is going to drive his Honda into stilman’s living room
Presser to state that Doug will be stepping down at seasons end and Trader Pete will be taking over.