BUFFALO, N.Y. — Doug Armstrong has just two events left on his calendar before his run as the NHL’s longest-tenured general manager will come to an end.After the NHL Combine in Buffalo this week and the league’s draft June 26-27, Armstrong will give way to Alexander Steen as St. Louis Blues GM on July 1.While the to-do list is limited, it looms large.With the Blues having three first-round picks and 12 total in the draft, there’s a lot of prep work for Armstrong and his staff at the combine. And with the possibility of the team trading current key roster players this offseason, it’s a particularly critical period for the franchise.“It’s a massive month for the Blues,” Armstrong told The Athletic. “The number of picks we have, and it’s a deadline league, and the trade deadline is probably at the draft. We understand the magnitude of this draft.”Since the end of the Blues’ season in April, fans have been in hurry-up-and-wait mode. The Athletic has made roster projections and even lineup projections for the 2026-27 season. But at this point, even Armstrong and Steen can’t tell you how it’s going to play out.“You prepare for the opportunities, understanding that there might be none,” Armstrong said.The Blues have picks Nos. 11, 15 and 29 in the opening round. There’s been great speculation already about what it might take to trade up, perhaps as high as the San Jose Sharks’ pick at No. 2.Ivar Stenberg, a highly rated winger and the younger brother of the Blues’ Otto Stenberg, could be available there.Armstrong, who typically has a good pulse of the fans, would like to appease them by uniting the brothers, right?“Yeah,” he said, laughing. “I think it was George McPhee who said, ‘Once you start thinking like the fans, you become one.'”Kidding aside, what is the Blues’ interest level in trading up?Armstrong didn’t downplay the possibility but said, “The only way we can move up is if somebody wants to move back. So you’re at the rhythm of what other teams are trying to accomplish.”And historically, this far out from the draft, it’s not yet known what the teams holding those picks are trying to accomplish.“In my experience, this trading up and trading back right now is more media-driven,” Armstrong said. “These things don’t happen until maybe 48 hours before the draft, when all the information is in.“Now, I’ll say that, and then one of the top two picks will be traded in an hour, but those happen way closer to the draft. So I don’t put a lot of stock into the moving up or moving back until you almost get to draft week.”This summer, there’s perhaps even more uncertainty, with mock drafts showing a variety of players high on the board.