Chris MacFarland is leaving the Avalanche to join the Predators

Marc-Olivier Cook
Chris MacFarland is leaving the Avalanche to join the Predators
Credit: RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Things are happening in the NHL.

The Nashville Predators have reached an agreement with Chris MacFarland on the terms of a contract for him to become the organization's president and general manager.

The club made the announcement on X. This means MacFarland is leaving his position as GM with the Colorado Avalanche to join the Preds…

This is big news.

MacFarland is no slouch: he's a nominee for NHL General Manager of the Year and has a solid reputation.

He's made some big trades in recent years for the Avalanche and has never been afraid to make moves to improve his team. I really feel like this is a great move for the Preds… because they've just landed a guy who won the Stanley Cup in 2022 with Colorado.

(Credit: NHL.com)

That said, the question I'm asking myself is this: why did the Avalanche so readily grant the Preds permission to speak with him?

Did Colorado want to give him a chance to be promoted to GM AND president of a team? Or does the Avalanche simply want to move on to the next call?

Remember that the Canadiens, for their part, never gave other teams permission to speak with Jeff Gorton. And one has to wonder why that wasn't the case with MacFarland…

It's worth noting that in Colorado, they've already thought about what comes next: Joe Sakic will return to take over as GM within the organization.

In 2022, the Avalanche promoted him to president to hand the GM role to MacFarland. 

The Avalanche didn't really have a choice but to act quickly because the coming weeks will be crucial with the draft and the opening of the NHL free-agent market.

However, one might still wonder whether Sakic will want to keep his GM position long-term… or if the club will decide to hire another GM in due course to distribute responsibilities within the organization.

To be continued, then.


In a nutshell

– Now that's funny.

– Yeah.

– Great news for the Knights.

– Interesting.

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