Blues promote Keith Tkachuk to advisor to president of hockey operations
The St. Louis Blues made several altercations to their front office, as the team has announced that they’ve promoted Keith Tkachuk to advisor to president of hockey operations, promoted Chris Thorburn to director of player development, and hired Robert Bortuzzo as a pro scout, according to NHL.com’s Lou Korac.
#stlblues announce Keith Tkachuk has been promoted to advisor to president of hockey operations; Chris Thorburn has been promoted to director of player development; Robert Bortuzzo re-joins the Blues in a full-time capacity as a pro scout among a number of front office changes.
Korac also reported that these three moves were “among a number of front office changes”, but did not specify what other moves the Blues were making.
These front offices should come as no surprise, as the Blues are undergoing their first general manager change since 2010, as Doug Armstrong is moving up the organizational food chain to president of hockey operations, while Alex Steen will be taking over the role of general manager.
Tkachuk has been a part of the Blues’ staff since the 2014-15 season, working as an amateur scout from 2014 to 2019, and then as the director of recruitment from 2019 to 2026. The soon-to-be Hall of Famer played for the Blues for parts of nine seasons from 2001 to 2010 (outside of a brief stint with the Atlanta Thrashers after the 2007 trade deadline), where he had 208 goals and 219 assists for 427 points in 543 regular season games, and eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 41 playoff games.
Thorburn has been a part of the Blues’ staff since the 2022-23 season, working as a development coach. He was a member of the Blues as a player for two seasons from 2017 to 2019, getting one goal and six assists for seven points in 51 games with the Blues, and two goals and five assists for seven points in 40 games with their at-the-time AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage.
Bortuzzo’s pro scouting gig is his first job in an NHL front office as he finished up his NHL career after the 2024-25 season. He rejoins the Blues organization after spending parts of 10 seasons as a player from 2015 to 2023, where he had 16 goals and 38 assists for 54 points in 424 regular season games, and two goals and one assists for three points in 47 playoff games, and was a part of the team’s Stanley Cup win in 2019.