ST. LOUIS – Robert Thomas was all smiles on Tuesday.

Not just because he was at Enterprise Center to support Alexander Steen’s official introduction as the 12th general manager in St. Louis Blues history, succeeding Doug Armstrong, who is assuming the sole role of president of hockey operations after having the dual role, but because there’s a hint of optimism at the recent acquisitions the Blues made to make this team better and equipped to win.

Oh, and can we put the trade talk on the trash can once and for all?

When Armstrong, who made three trades in the past week to help solidify the roster moving into 2026-27, made the comments that the idea was to give the players heading into their prime years a chance to win, Thomas was mentioned specifically.

“I think that what we’ve tried to do is make sure that we’re being competitive to that core group and starting with someone like Robert Thomas, who’s been here,” Armstrong said. “I don’t think his excitement level would be to input all 21-, 22-, 23-year-olds. He’s at that part of his career where I believe he wants to see that we’re trying to be competitive sooner than later and I’m hoping that he and his teammates reflect that we expect to be back in that competitive position. The difference between last year and this year, we expect to be back in that competitive position with younger players than the veteran players that we want to replicate that short window from. This group is not replicating anything. They’re creating their own thing.”

Thomas, the Blues’ top line center, is not only pleased with the acquisitions of Connor McMichael from the Washington Capitals, Mason McTavish from the Anaheim Ducks and Brandon Carlo from the Toronto Maple Leafs, appreciated Armstrong’s comments. Oh, and he wanted to reiterate to the fans of St. Louis his desire to be in St. Louis for the long haul.

Thomas, who turns 27 on Thursday, has five years remaining on his contract at a $8.125 million cap hit.

“It obviously means a lot,” Thomas said. “From my standpoint, I've loved my time in St. Louis. I love it here, I love the organization, the city. These last couple years have been tough. We want to be really competitive every year and we've only had one full year of that. To hear that and for him not just talk about it, but kind of put his money where his mouth is and grab some high-end young pieces that can really fill in our team, it gives our team excitement and especially the confidence that we're going to be competitive soon. Also it gives me a lot of responsibility. I'm coming into the prime years of my career now like you said, and I want to have success here and a really successful team. Whether that's stepping up in my leadership and my play, all those are aspects of the game and puts that accountability on me, so I'm really excited.”

Thomas, who had 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in 64 games last season, finished last season on one of the top lines in the league with Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud. And now to see the Blues, who have missed the playoffs three of the past four seasons, really step up and look to make the group competitive this season in hopes of returning to the Stanley Cup playoffs, there’s a level of excitement to lead by example.

“We ended the year as probably one of the youngest teams in the league, maybe even the youngest and we were able to find some success there, and that’s by doing it as a team,” Thomas said. “We do have some older guys who have been around a lot and have had success. It’s important to lean on those guys, but at the same time, we have so much young talent and skill and people that are itching to grow their roles. Doing it together as a team is really going to allow us to take that next step even though we might be really young. I think that part’s really exciting.”

Not only did the Blues add and could add more when free agency starts, but Thomas sees the commitment the management group is trying to make things happen.

“Really excited,” Thomas said. “A lot of guys that are young but have a lot of experience in the league, played a lot of games, guys that feel like they haven’t reached their potential yet. They feel like they’re just scratching the surface. We’ve had a lot of guys come in like that. You look at Broberg and Holloway where they hadn’t played as many games, but everyone recognizes their ceilings. It’s up to the team here and the guys who really make them feel good to complement them because they can be some really dang good players. We’re really excited about it. I think it really pushes us as players. They really stepped up and brought in some high-quality pieces and it’s on us to really take care of the team moving forward.”

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