Confirmed with Link: Doug Armstrong extension, 4 years

[David Dennison]

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[CaliforniaBlues310]

Army isn’t a bad GM so it could be worse. However, it seems this gives him time to see how this new core of players perform.

 

[converseman54]

And after that Schenn steal he deserves at least a couple more years

 

[Dbrownss]

Over the last 2yrs I've been happy with the future direction of the team. Glad to keep the Armstrong team around...especially that drafting department.

 

[Splatter]

Great drafts the past few seasons combined with the draft day deals that immediately paid off this year cemented his return.

 

[PiggySmalls]

With The prospects on the horizon, we will really see a team that minus 2 players Army built. If Blues don’t finally win a cup in those 4 years it will be time to move on.

 

[BleedBlue14]

Army is growing on me. Best part about this news is that BA will likely stay around with him for the foreseeable future!

 

[Majorityof1]

1-2 years too long for my liking. I would have ideally wanted to give him 2-3 more years to see where the team was heading. We are at a precipice of being really special, but it will take a few more shrewd moves. If he can't get us going in a positive direction the next two years, he won't get there.

Still, 2 years may have been a tough sell. It speaks a lot to his off-season that nothing around me is burning. Had he signed this extension this time last year, I would have been rioting. As it is, I am merely thinking "Eh, a bit too long".

 

[The Note]

Not surprising at all. Never got the impression that ownership had any intention of moving on from him. He’s built a good roster, drafted well in thanks to the fantastic amateur scouting dept. and the team doesn’t have any truly bad contracts. The real test will be if he can finally pull of that move to get the team over the hump. Most everything’s in place but another top 6 scoring option is needed.

 

[David Dennison]

Blues are well positioned for the next 3 seasons. All of our key players are locked up thru then and we have an interesting group of youngsters who could contribute as well.

 

[Celtic Note]

The team has an option for a fifth year.

 

[TheBluePenguin]

He should go give Schenn a hug, that trade alone probably got him an extra year on the deal He has earned an extension IMO and am happy with this decision.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

In the last four years

-Drafted Robby Fabbri, Ivan Barbashev, Ville Husso, Jake Walman, and Sammy Blais

-Drafted Vince Dunn

-Drafted Tage Thompson, Jordan Kyrou

-Drafted Robert Thomas, Klim Kostin

Traded Roman Polak for Carl Gunnarsson and Ville Husso essentially

Traded Jori Lehtera, Ryan Reaves, a 2nd rounder, and a 2018 first for Brayden Schenn, Klim Kostin, and Oskar Sundqvist.

Yeah I’d say he’s earned an extension

 

[Ranksu]

 

[Ranksu]

Bill Armstrong should be the guy who get 10-year extension, in first ones not Army. Bill (and Kekäläinen) has build this team not Army. Schenn and Reaves trades where good, but we don't know insides was our pro scouts high on Schenn and Bill Armstrong high on Kostin. Ofc Doug announce the trades etc. but mens in behind builing this team isn't not Army, he's just the joker who gets credits all of it. I'll stick in my vision that he's good building team Canada in short tournament, but in long run and build Stanley Cup team. Naah, he doesn't have vision to do it. We're still long away of real Stanley Cup contender team.

 

[Dbrownss]

Bill Armstrong should be the guy who get 10-year extension, in first ones not Army. Bill (and Kekäläinen) has build this team not Army. Schenn and Reaves trades where good, but we don't know insides was our pro scouts high on Schenn and Bill Armstrong high on Kostin. Ofc Doug announce the trades etc. but mens in behind builing this team isn't not Army, he's just the joker who gets credits all of it. I'll stick in my vision that he's good building team Canada in short tournament, but in long run and build Stanley Cup team. Naah, he doesn't have vision to do it. We're still long away of real Stanley Cup contender team.

Are you honestly this clueless? Not a single GM in the league runs the franchise 100% on their own. It's their management group that gets the job done at the direction of the GM. With out DA we may not have the same drafting department, we may not have Zimmerman either. He's turned the business side of the franchise around big time. You keep the GM and you most likely keep the GROUP that makes the franchise successful.

Edit: as for taking credit for everything...I can't think of an instance where he hasn't eferred credit to his guys.

 

[TheDizee]

he usually makes good trades but tends to make some bad signings (lehtera, steen etc)

 

[Note Worthy]

he usually makes good trades but tends to make some bad signings (lehtera, steen etc)

I would disagree with this. Yes, Lehtera was bad and every GM had a bad signing here and there but other than that I would say DA has made very decent signings.

 

[tfriede2]

In the last four years

-Drafted Robby Fabbri, Ivan Barbashev, Ville Husso, Jake Walman, and Sammy Blais

Fabbri was a great pick, as was Blais. Barbashev looks shaky and may be a fringe NHLer, Husso may not make it, and Walman hasn't shown much yet at the AHL level.

-Drafted Vince Dunn

Stud.

-Drafted Tage Thompson, Jordan Kyrou

Both appear to be solid picks, yet fans would yell about the Rattie and Jaskin picks when talking about DA's achievements.

-Drafted Robert Thomas, Klim Kostin

Thomas looks like a stud. Kostin could turn out to be Jaskin.

Traded Roman Polak for Carl Gunnarsson and Ville Husso essentially.

Solid trade.

Traded Jori Lehtera, Ryan Reaves, a 2nd rounder, and a 2018 first for Brayden Schenn, Klim Kostin, and Oskar Sundqvist.

Getting Schenn was incredible; however, Kostin could have been Tolvanen had we kept our original pick, who is breaking records set by Tarasenko and Kuznetsov in the KHL. But, like the other players I talked about above, Tolvanen hasn't done anything yet in the NHL, and Schenn is producing like the #1 center we've been craving for over a decade.
Yeah I’d say he’s earned an extension

Much of the credit you are giving DA should go to BA, IMO.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Bill Armstrong should be the guy who get 10-year extension, in first ones not Army. Bill (and Kekäläinen) has build this team not Army. Schenn and Reaves trades where good, but we don't know insides was our pro scouts high on Schenn and Bill Armstrong high on Kostin. Ofc Doug announce the trades etc. but mens in behind builing this team isn't not Army, he's just the joker who gets credits all of it. I'll stick in my vision that he's good building team Canada in short tournament, but in long run and build Stanley Cup team. Naah, he doesn't have vision to do it. We're still long away of real Stanley Cup contender team.

So then you don’t credit or fault any GM for anything right? Because they all depend on their pro and amateur scouting staffs.

 

[TruBlu]

We are in what is most likely our 7th straight playoff appearance this year. In a cap era, where we should be trending down due to several years of drafting in the bottom 1/3rd of the first round, we are actually trending up. BA deserves credit, but DA's vision for this team is what took us from a team whose window probably would have closed last year, had he given in to Backes, Brouwer, etc., to now being at the beginning of a new window with a very young team going into their prime. He's done a good job here.

 

[Ranksu]

Are you honestly this clueless? Not a single GM in the league runs the franchise 100% on their own. It's their management group that gets the job done at the direction of the GM. With out DA we may not have the same drafting department, we may not have Zimmerman either. He's turned the business side of the franchise around big time. You keep the GM and you most likely keep the GROUP that makes the franchise successful.

Edit: as for taking credit for everything...I can't think of an instance where he hasn't eferred credit to his guys.

Bolded: just reading Blues forum, you get idea GM runs everything draft players etc.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Much of the credit you are giving DA should go to BA, IMO.

I don’t see these as mutually exclusive.

Overall I think he’s also pretty good with contracts. The only bad ones are Lehtera (which he rectified) and Steen but he’s had some excellent ones as well, most recently being Parayko.

 

[Dbrownss]

Bolded: just reading Blues forum, you get idea GM runs everything draft players etc.

Seems like you see only what you want to see.

 

[BrokenFace]

I was very low on Army a year and a half ago, but he's regained a decent portion of my confidence. He's good at some things (forward and winger depth except for this year, d-core quality and depth) and questionable at others (goalie decisions, acquiring centers outside of Schenn). He did great by letting Backes and Brouwer walk and for trading Elliott and Shatty (although Shatty maybe should have been moved earlier), but he counteracts those moves by signing Steen to a questionable deal and Berglund to a completely pointless, damaging one. I'll give him credit for bringing in Bill Armstrong and for finally drafting some centers, but he can easily lose my confidence again.