COLORADO AVALANCHE

Colorado Avalanche name new GM, promote Joe Sakic to team president

Jul 11, 2022, 9:45 AM

The Colorado Avalanche dished out a couple of front office promotions on Monday morning, 15 days after winning the Stanley Cup.

Joe Sakic is now the team’s president of hockey operations and assistant general manager Chris MacFarland is now the Avalanche’s general manager.

While the decision makers don’t change, this move allows the Avalanche to keep MacFarland with a fancy new title and likely a pay raise. Other teams may have wanted to come in and steal him to start running their hockey operations. Now, that won’t happen. Sakic will continue to ultimately call the shots, but moves up even higher in the Avalanche’s organization.

A similar move happened with the Nuggets back in 2017 when they promoted Tim Connelly to president of basketball operations and named Arturas Karnisovas GM. Both are no longer with the team, but the structure is one KSE has used before.

MacFarland, 52, just completed his seventh season as the Avalanche’s Assistant GM. Hired on May 21, 2015, MacFarland has worked closely with Sakic regarding all hockey-related matters during his time in Colorado and was a pivotal part of the turnaround from finishing last in the league in 2016-17 to capturing the Presidents’ Trophy in 2020-21 and winning the Stanley Cup in 2022.

Sakic was the 2021-22 recipient of the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, the first executive in club history to receive the honor. Under Sakic’s direction, the Avalanche had their most successful regular season in franchise history (56-19-7, 119 points) and continued that into the postseason with a 16-4 playoff mark en route to capturing the 2022 Stanley Cup.

***

Colorado Avalanche

Nathan MacKinnon Team Canada...

Will Petersen

MacKinnon, Makar, McDavid and Crosby on Team Canada power play

Team Canada practiced together on Monday ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off and we learned a little bit more about the group

1 hour ago

Cale Makar Nathan MacKinnon...

Will Petersen

MacKinnon and Makar aren’t favorites for top NHL awards, but close

While both Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are close in ESPN's latest awards watch, neither is currently the favorite for the Hart or the Norris

6 days ago

Kevin Demoff, KSE...

Jake Shapiro

Avs and Nuggets are finally back on TV, KSE apologizes

The bosses at KSE and other key figures announced an agreement between the sides ending a nearly six-year stalemate

6 days ago

Valeri Nichushkin...

Will Petersen

There’s a new timeline on when Valeri Nichushkin might be back

Jared Bednar told reporters that Colorado is hoping to be able to put Valeri Nichushkin back in the lineup after the 4 Nations Face-Off

11 days ago

Mikko Rantanen...

Will Petersen

Mikko Rantanen continues to tell his side of the trade story

“I thought it was gonna be an extension for sure. I can’t lie about that," Mikko Rantanen told Jesse Montano from Guerilla Sports on Tuesday

13 days ago

Chris MacFarland Mikko Rantanen...

Will Petersen

Avs GM Chris MacFarland bet his legacy on Mikko Rantanen trade

Chris MacFarland put the pressure on himself when he traded Mikko Rantanen; it better work out, or he might be looking for a new gig sooner rather than later

14 days ago

Colorado Avalanche name new GM, promote Joe Sakic to team president