Reports: Avs GM Chris MacFarland likely to leave for Predators

Colorado Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland might be on his way out the door.

According to several reports on Tuesday morning, MacFarland is likely to leave the Avs and join the Nashville Predators.

It sounds like he could be named the president of that organization at any moment after helping build a powerhouse in Colorado over the last several seasons.

The Colorado Avalanche have granted the Nashville Predators permission to speak to GM Chris MacFarland.@FriedgeHNIC & @PierreVLeBrun were first to report. I’m hearing the expectation is the deal gets done for MacFarland to go to Nashville.

— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) June 2, 2026

More: according to several sources, MacFarland met face-to-face last night with owner Bill Haslam and the goal is for the Predators to close this quickly. They know they will have to hand the keys to MacFarland and are prepared to do it. Stay tuned. https://t.co/cRHBbQqheZ

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 2, 2026

According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman, not only has Chris MacFarland been granted to speak with the Predators, that’s already happened.

And as Friedman mentions, Nashville would have to “hand the keys” to MacFarland, meaning he’d be in charge of all hockey decisions. With the Avalanche MacFarland currently reports to team president Joe Sakic and owner Josh Kroenke.

The Avs still haven’t had an end-of-season press conference since getting swept out of the Western Conference Final by the Vegas Golden Knights and this helps explain why. That series ended a week ago today, but it’s been radio silence from the organization. Last year both MacFarland and Sakic spoke with the media shortly after the team’s playoff exit.

MacFarland’s been Colorado’s GM since the summer of 2022 right after they won the last Stanley Cup. He was promoted from assistant GM, a role he had taken in 2015. Sakic was also promoted from GM to president after the Avalanche’s last title.

There’s no question MacFarland is a huge piece of the puzzle for the team, setting them up for success. They won the Presidents’ Trophy this year with 121 points — a franchise record.

Chris MacFarland has made several huge trades during his tenure, including turning Mikko Rantanen into Martin Necas and Jack Drury, revamping the goaltender room with Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood and bringing home Nazem Kadri.

He’s widely regarded as one of the top executives in the NHL and is a finalist for the Jim Gregory Award, given to the league’s top GM.

And for more money and a bigger title it’d be hard to blame Chris MacFarland leaving for Nashville. We’ve seen it on the NBA side with Tim Connelly departing the Denver Nuggets as sometimes Kroenke lets these executives walk.

Stay tuned, but this appears to be moving quickly.

Related

Cale Makar voted NHL’s best defenseman a fifth year in a rowAvalanche name new head coach for AHL affiliate EaglesFive most important Avalanche games during the 2026-27 seasonNHL drops schedule for 2026-27 Avalanche seasonFirst Avalanche game of 2026-27 season announced, it’s in SeptemberAvs make three more depth signings, including forward with 477 NHL games