Reacting To Chris MacFarland Leaving Avalanche To Become Predators' GM And Hockey Ops President

It's not often you see one of the finalists for the NHL's Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award switching teams after that season.

That's precisely what happened Tuesday with the announcement that Colorado Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland has joined the Nashville Predators as GM and president of hockey operations.

"I know this is a proud organization with a solid track record of putting together teams that the fans of Smashville support wholeheartedly," MacFarland said in a statement. "My goal here is to build a winner, working with Bill Haslam, Sean Henry and our hockey operations staff and players to put a team on the ice that will compete for the Stanley Cup. I am excited about our future."

'It's Upsetting': Golden Knights Should Let Bruce Cassidy Coach Now, Even If It's For A Rival

Blocked from interviewing with the Edmonton Oilers and L.A. Kings, coach Bruce Cassidy said the Vegas Golden Knights' decision is upsetting. When will Vegas change course?

Savvy Hire For Nashville

MacFarland wasn't named a finalist for the Jim Gregory Award by accident.

He built this year's best regular-season team, which was a leviathan in the first two rounds of the playoffs before getting swept by Vegas. So he's got plenty of evidence that he knows what he's doing.

MacFarland added effective players, such as Nazem Kadri, Brock Nelson, Scott Wedgewood, Mackenzie Blackwood, Brent Burns and Brett Kulak, over the past couple of seasons as part of his efforts to make the Avalanche a dynasty.

Now, he will try to make Nashville the Stanley Cup contender it tried to become two years ago under then-GM Barry Trotz, when it signed Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei in free agency but missed the playoffs.

Predators Land Chris MacFarland As Colorado Returns To Sakic At Helm

Chris MacFarland is leaving the Colorado Avalanche after more than a decade with the organization to become president of hockey operations and general manager of the Nashville Predators, marking a significant front-office shift for both Western Conference clubs.

MacFarland Was Due For A Larger Role

But if you cover the game long enough, you see many hires like MacFarland's hire on Tuesday.

When an organization has success at the highest level, it makes everyone in their management tree very attractive to other teams as they chart a new competitive course. That's happened with the Detroit Red Wings when they were a regular Cup-winner, and that's happened more recently with the Tampa Bay Lightning as well.

Now, that's happened with the Avalanche.

Sakic always had the final word, so while MacFarland will be missed in Denver, the top of the Avs' management mountain will stay the same. But it's an exciting time in Nashville with MacFarland's hiring. MacFarland will put together his own blueprint for success, and while the Predators will still need patience as a new generation is built for the team, they've now got a crafty and bold decision-maker who has every motivation to prove the Avalanche shouldn't have let him leave.

If MacFarland wins the Jim Gregory Award, it won't look great for the Avalanche. But they did right by MacFarland by letting him move on, and that good karma the Avs created by letting MacFarland leave will reflect well on the organization.

Colorado could've gone the Vegas route by not granting permission for MacFarland to leave. But the Avs did the right thing, and we'll now see what MacFarland can do when he's the person ultimately deciding how a team should be run.

See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

The Hockey News

This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 12:58 PM.