A crazy day for the Avalanche means one more big move needs to come

The Colorado Avalanche had a crazy Tuesday.

A few hours after strong speculation began, general manager Chris MacFarland was gone to the Nashville Predators, named their new president of hockey operations and GM.

And while the Avs wished MacFarland well, they made a bit of a stunning announcement. President Joe Sakic would return to his general manager duties, something Sakic hasn’t done since the summer of 2022. Avalanche owner Josh Kroenke said Sakic will be in that role for the “foreseeable future.”

If that wasn’t enough, head coach Jared Bednar will reportedly be retained as well. Many thought Colorado might make a change after they were shockingly swept out of the Western Conference Final by the Vegas Golden Knights.

It’s actually a good thing they didn’t.

The Avalanche can’t afford to replace a GM and head coach in the same offseason. That’s what floundering franchises do, not ones coming off a Presidents’ Trophy and a franchise record 121 regular season points.

The second MacFarland left for Nashville the Avs had no choice. Bednar needed to return to maintain some continuity on what is still a great hockey team.

In fact, that’s why Sakic probably agreed to take a step back and be the GM once again. He almost certainly doesn’t want to do it forever, but is happy to help guide the organization through the draft, free agency and potential trades this summer. Super Joe loves the Avalanche that much and probably felt like he couldn’t tell Kroenke no.

But now one more big move needs to come. It’s time for the franchise to extend Bednar as he enters the final year of his contract.

It would be irresponsible to have a lame duck head coach on the last year of a deal. If things go sideways during the 2026-27 regular season for even a moment, speculation would run rampant about Bednar getting fired. It’d be a distraction in the locker room for the players, wondering the fate of their head coach.

Kroenke should extend Bednar ASAP, like in the coming days. Sakic is due to speak to the media next week, so it’d be better if he doesn’t have to answer questions about it. Eliminate a distraction before it even begins.

Bednar has playoff shortcomings he needs to figure out. Once the Golden Knights went up 2-0 in the series, it felt like the Avalanche were toast. He must get better at adjusting to adversity on the fly, especially when Colorado finds its offense out of sorts.

But he’s still a Cup champion and has his team as a contender every single year. You can make a case that from 2019 on if things break differently, the Avalanche had a shot to be champions each time. That didn’t happen outside of 2022, but many franchises would kill to be in that spot.

The heartbreak of the Vegas fiasco can’t take the train off the tracks. There’s no reason Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Gabriel Landeskog, etc. shouldn’t have at least two rings during their runs in Denver.

In an offseason full of questions, many got answered on Tuesday. But the Avalanche should also give Bednar a new contract — ensuring all the focus is on the Stanley Cup next season and beyond.

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