So this offer sheet exposure has gotten me thinking. The decision to turn things over to Steen was Army’s way to step aside and get a new perspective for the club’s leadership.
It’s no secret that when Dubas was fired, Army’s name was brought up by the Canadian media and speculation for a while was rampant that maybe he’d be poached by the Leafs. That was quickly shit down, but Army could very likely have expected to become the highest paid GM in the league had he been granted permission (or asked for such) to speak with Shanahan and MLSE.
Now, he’s the talk of the NHL with words like “genius” and “master-class” being thrown around. Every owner in the league is suddenly looking at their own GM and wondering if their guy is a genius too. And in two years Armstrong is suddenly no longer the Blues GM. Sure, he’s staying in the organization initially…but for hiw much longer becomes a reasonable question?
Maybe after having stepped into a different role for a year or two, the competitive urge to build a new team come$ back. Perhaps a deep-pocketed team offers a PoHO/GM role in a historic market at money too good to turn down. I doubt anyone would be surprised to hear that teams like Toronto or NYR might come sniffing around again waiving a fat check and a shot to lead a storied franchise and be given unlimited resources to return them to the promised land.
I’m not suggesting that Army played the offer-sheet cards to make a buzz and line himself up for a big payday in a few years. But if he were actually interested in the Leafs role last year or becoming the highest paid GM in the history of the sport, what better way to have it come to fruition than by resigning from your current gig and doing a mic-drop of such epic proportions? The guy just became every team owners wet dream of a hire. And I for one will NOT be surprised to see him GM-ing another franchise before his official retirement and induction into the HHOF.
