Avs president Joe Sakic insists loss stings because team was close, not Rantanen

Colorado Avalanche president Joe Sakic and GM Chris MacFarland met with the media on Tuesday.

And it was way sooner than they had hoped or expected.

It was the end of the season press conference for the Avs after losing in Round 1 in seven games to the Dallas Stars.

A lot of ground was covered including retaining head coach Jared Bednar and firing assistant Ray Bennett, but the topic on most people’s minds was Mikko Rantanen.

The former Avalanche superstar, who was traded by the club in January, burned them in Game 7. A stunning third period hat trick sent them home for the summer, as Rantanen got the last laugh. To be fair, Colorado traded him to Carolina where he played just 13 games before being moved to Dallas right before the NHL trade deadline.

And Joe Sakic had two very interesting answers on Rantanen. First, he confirmed he was very involved in the trade and thought the Avalanche needed to get deeper.

Avalanche president Joe Sakic with his most in depth comments on the Mikko Rantanen trade. He was involved. Thought they weren’t deep enough. pic.twitter.com/f1aep2Uhsw

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) May 6, 2025

“You look at where we were the last few years, we weren’t good enough. We weren’t deep enough,” Joe Sakic said. “Status quo wasn’t good enough. We wanted to have him signed.”

The Avalanche and Rantanen could never come to terms on a contract extension, with all kinds of numbers being floated about what he wanted and what Colorado was willing to give. Ultimately, he received an eight-year deal from Dallas worth $12 million per year.

And while most fans can’t believe it was Rantanen of all people who knocked the Avs out of the playoffs, Sakic isn’t focused on that. He thinks Colorado was good enough to win the Stanley Cup this year and this isn’t all about Rantanen.

Joe Sakic is adamant this stings because the Avalanche were good enough to win the Stanley Cup NOT because of Mikko Rantanen being on the other side. Fascinating answer here. pic.twitter.com/bjM2bd3wxY

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) May 6, 2025

“This stings not because Mikko is on the other side, it stings because we felt this was a… we were close. We did those deals because it was wide open,” Joe Sakic said. “We felt we had the team to move on and really compete.”

Essentially, Sakic thinks the Avalanche could’ve captured their fourth title in franchise history. They didn’t do it, and as MacFarland said, they “blew” three third period leads in Games 2, 3 and 7 and lost all of them.

It was good to hear from Sakic, but you can tell the boss is just as disappointed as the fans. The Avalanche had a legitimate shot at something special this season and came up far short of expectations.

Now Rantanen will go chase the second Cup of his career, while Joe Sakic and the Avs wonder what could’ve been.

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