Chris Macfarland Leaves, Joe Sakic Resumes Avalanche GM Duties
chris macfarland has left the Avalanche, and Joe Sakic will resume general manager duties for the foreseeable future. Josh Kroenke said Sakic will handle the role through this month’s NHL draft and into the start of the league year.
MacFarland Joins Nashville
MacFarland joined the Nashville Predators to lead their hockey operations group, taking over as general manager after Barry Trotz stepped aside earlier this year following three seasons in the job. Bill Haslam said the Predators ran an exhaustive search and met with several qualified candidates before landing on MacFarland.
Haslam added that the Predators had hoped to interview him all along and called him “a perfect fit for us – just what we were looking for to lead our organization moving forward.”
Sakic Back In Charge
For Colorado, the move restores a familiar structure. Sakic served as the Avalanche’s general manager from 2013 until he was promoted in 2022, and MacFarland had held the job since July of 2022 after Sakic moved to president of hockey operations.
Kroenke said, “(Avalanche President) Joe Sakic will resume the General Manager duties for the foreseeable future, including through this month’s draft and the start of the league year.” He also thanked MacFarland for being “instrumental in our success over the last decade and a key part of our 2022 Stanley Cup championship.”
Avalanche Draft Window
The timing matters because the Avalanche are entering a key roster-planning stretch with Sakic back in the lead chair. They have made the playoffs all four seasons with MacFarland at the helm, and this season ended with a run to the Western Conference Final before they were swept by the Vegas Golden Knights.
MacFarland’s path to Nashville stretches back to 2000-01, when he began his NHL front office career with the Columbus Blue Jackets as director of hockey operations. He spent 14 seasons with Columbus, including eight as assistant general manager, then moved to the Avalanche in 2015 as assistant general manager and was part of the 2022 Stanley Cup-winning club before his elevation to general manager.
For Colorado, the immediate change is simple: Sakic is back in charge during the draft and the opening of the league year, while Nashville gets a new leader for its hockey operations group after a search that Haslam said included several strong candidates.
