Report: Panthers interviewed Blues' Bill Armstrong for GM job

The Florida Panthers interviewed St. Louis Blues assistant general manager Bill Armstrong twice for their GM vacancy, sources told The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford.

Armstrong has also served as St. Louis' director of amateur scouting since 2010-11. He's not related to Blues GM Doug Armstrong.

The Blues have made some astute draft selections over the last decade despite never owning a top-10 pick. Among the best are Jaden Schwartz (14th overall) and Vladimir Tarasenko (16th) in 2010, Jordan Binnington (88th, 2011), Colton Parayko (86th, 2012), Sammy Blais (176th, 2014), Vince Dunn (56th, 2015), and Robert Thomas (20th, 2017).

Rutherford notes Florida has considered numerous candidates for the position, including Scott Mellanby, Chris MacFarland, Mike Futa, Laurence Gilman, Bill Zito, Ron Hextall, Eddie Olczyk, Kevin Weekes, and Sean Burke.

The Panthers fired Dale Tallon as their GM on Aug. 10 after the club's qualifying-round loss to the New York Islanders. Tallon is under investigation for potentially using a racial slur while with the team in the Toronto bubble.

Florida has made the playoffs just twice in the last 19 seasons.

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