Fresh off their Stanley Cup win, the Colorado Avalanche are making front office moves. They have named assistant General Manager Chris MacFarland as their new General Manager. Current (now former) GM and Vice-President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic has been promoted to President of Hockey Operations the team announced.
Joe Sakic named Colorado Avalanche president of hockey operations, Chris MacFarland named new GM https://t.co/l8vEOL1IQR pic.twitter.com/EsPFbcWay1
— CBSColorado (@CBSNewsColorado) July 11, 2022
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New Colorado Avalanche General Manager
The Avalanche are coming off their most successful season in their history. Thir 56-19-7 record was good for 119 points, all franchise records. To cap it off the Avs won the Stanley Cup. Due to the Avs’ success this past year, Joe Sakic won the Jim Gregory award as the best GM of the year. It has been a long road for the now-former Colorado Avalanche general manager but he has proven to be an excellent and shrewd team-builder.
Sakic has been working in the Avs front office since 2011 in several different roles but has been serving as GM since 2014. While things got off to a rocky start, specifically in the 2016-17 season, where the team completely bottomed out securing only 48 points. On top of that, the Avs lost the draft lottery and slipped down to the fourth pick and Matt Duchene requested a trade. Sakic seemed to be on thin ice, but this was the catalyst for the Avs turnaround. With the fourth overall pick, they selected Cale Makar and traded Duchene for a package that included Samuel Girard and Bowen Byram. He also acquired Nazem Kadri and Devon Toews to help beef up the roster.
What This Meas For the Future
Colorado wanted to keep their front office intact after winning the Cup. Chris MacFalanrd has been working as an assistant GM under Sakic for the last seven years. He worked closely with Sakic on all roster moves, trades, and negotiations. Promoting Sakic to President of Hockey Ops and MacFarland to GM means the Avalanche keep their strong front office together. Sakic and MacFaland can continue to work together building and maintaining the Avs as an NHL powerhouse.
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