The St. Louis Blues announced a couple of significant changes to their front office on Wednesday, officially adding Peter Chiarelli and Ken Hitchcock to the staff.
Chiarelli will take over as the team’s V.P. of Hockey Operations, while Hitchcock will join the staff as a coaching consultant.
He will replace Dave Taylor in that role, who will take on a new role as a senior advisor to hockey operations.
Hitchcock previously served as Blues head coach between 2011 and 2017 and is second on the team’s all-time wins list. Along with the Blues, he also coached in Dallas, Columbus, Philadelphia, and Edmonton.
Obviously both names are very prominent around the NHL given the roles they have held. Both have won Stanley Cups (Hitchcock as a head coach in Dallas; Chiarelli as general manager in Boston) and been in positions of power for years.
Chiarelli is probably the most significant hiring given the responsibility he is going to have in the front office. It is also fascinating given how his past two general manager jobs (Boston and Edmonton) have ended, specifically his time with the Oilers and the types of trades he has made over the years in both Boston and Edmonton. Not only did the Oilers fail to find success despite the presence of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and several high draft picks, but the team was left with a tough salary cap situation and depleted NHL roster around the two superstars.
Doug Armstrong remains in place as Blues general manager, while Craig Berube still holds the head coaching position.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.