Steve Ott Chooses Development Over Opportunity in Two‑Year Extension with Springfield

After singing a two-year extension as the Springfield Thunderbirds head coach, Steve Ott sent a clear message about his coaching philosophy, the Blues’ development pipeline, and why the American Hockey League remains the ideal environment for growth, both for players and coaches.

When asked Wednesday morning about potential NHL opportunities this summer, he didn’t hesitate and stated that he removed himself from consideration entirely. 

“This is the perfect scenario for where I am at my head-coaching journey,” Ott said. “I kind of removed myself from possibilities of NHL coaching jobs this summer. I just thought to be patient right now to work on my craft as a head coach and continue to develop it… running my own training camp here, coming up in September, having my own team, all those things I think were the crucial factor.”

Ott repeatedly noted the strong connection between St. Louis and Springfield. He praised the fluid chemistry across the organization, from GM Doug Armstrong to Tim Taylor, Jim Montgomery, and the development staff.

“We’re one connected organization,” Ott said. “We’re trying to excel all our players to obviously reach the next level.”

That organizational alignment proved to be a huge turning point for the team after he took over mid-season. Under Ott, the Thunderbirds’ deep playoff run became a proving ground for young talent.

“What stood out the most… was our buy-in,” Ott explained. “The gained experience from our young players to play in meaningful, important games fast-tracked a lot of them… Those extra hard playoff games, that’s where development grows the fastest. They’re going to take huge steps and huge gains this summer.”

The journey, as Ott described is one with “unfinished business.” The Thunderbirds experienced both satisfaction in the progress and now hunger for more.

How he will manage the young, up-and-coming prospects to the veterans on the team will test he and his staff from the beginning of training camp. 

“I’ve had a lot of experience… your Robert Thomas’s, your Neighbours, before that was Sundqvist and Barbashev… meeting with guys every single day, checking in where they are, off the ice, on the ice… helping with the best interest to maximize what their game looks like.”

This experience in the NHL and the system that is played each game has helped Ott, and the rest of the prospects, learn what it takes to seamlessly join the NHL squad. Now, it is that coaching staff’s job and duty to help them navigate maybe the one single piece or area of their game to help them navigate that path.

“This is why the league, the American Hockey League, is so fun. As a head coach, you get to try things that might be unorthodox at times… the cat and mouse game that you get to play as a coach down here.”

He plans to carry forward the tactics that worked while continuing to experiment in ways that might not be possible at the NHL level. To feed those unorthodox tactics, he gets a wealth of prospects and talent to use to his advantage. 

“I think our talent pool has gotten a lot deeper throughout the last few drafts. We got some real young ones that are coming in… we now have that deeper prospect pool, which is really exciting for the Blues.”

With training camp on the horizon and “unfinished business” still on the table, Ott’s return positions the Thunderbirds as a vital, thriving extension of the Blues’ development machine.