The Blues tendered the first successful offer sheet(s) in three years last month when they landed both Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway from the Oilers. Some thought the rich contracts may have been a ploy to snag one while Edmonton matched the other. That wasn’t the case, as Blues general manager Doug Armstrong told Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic that the team “structured it that way in an attempt to get both players.”
“We scouted them,” Armstrong continued. “We’ve watched their development. We thought there was a chance that we could get both when you looked at the Oilers’ contracts coming up, and it ended up working out that way.”
It all indicates Armstrong’s hope to end his tenure as GM by returning the 2019 Stanley Cup winners to championship contention without a total teardown. “We now have double-digit players drafted in the first round over a five-, six-year span,” he said. “Now, they’re not all going to make it, but consistently, you have 70 to 80 percent of those guys make it; they can actually play together for the better part of five, six, seven years. Building something that’s sustainable is what we’re trying to do here. Those two players fit perfectly into that.”
More from around the NHL as training camp nears:
- Center Marco Rossi’s commitment to a solid sophomore season in the State of Hockey was evidenced last month when he declined to participate for his native Austria in this summer’s qualifying tournament for the 2026 Winter Olympics, instead focusing on starting his pre-season training in Minnesota. The 22-year-old spoke recently to Joe Smith of The Athletic, saying he thinks a 30-goal season is “of course possible” after lighting the lamp 21 times in his rookie year. He’s got his confidence back after demonstrating his floor as a perfectly acceptable top-nine pivot last season – which wasn’t a guarantee for the 2020 ninth-overall pick after complications from COVID-19 cost him virtually all of his post-draft season. That adversity “always makes you stronger mentally,” he said.
- After a 10-year run as chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee, Lanny McDonald’s tenure in the role will end in June 2025, thanks to term limits. He’ll be succeeded by nine-time 40-goal scorer and 2001 inductee Mike Gartner, as Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun relays. Gartner will enter a chairman-elect role next month to “support transitional matters and be on the search committee for a new president and CEO.” He’ll also preside over the induction of the 2025 class, which will be announced weeks after he takes over as chairman full-time.
Mike Gartner was the first hockey card I saw from the first pack I bought as a kid. Still have it in one of my massive card binders from the 90’s. That dude could absolutely rip it, and with a wooden stick too.
On another note, I thought my somewhat rare Jagr rookie card would be worth more after 34 years but the legend will never retire… T_T
Army is setting up Steen to have a powerhouse.