The Colorado Avalanche may be on the verge of losing their general manager.
There had been plenty of speculation regarding Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland bolting to the Nashville Predators this offseason. While I personally did not think that would happen, the process has gone a step further.
The Avs have given permission to the Predators to interview MacFarland, which they did on Monday night. That’s a sign that it could happen at any time, in my opinion. In fact, in the attached X post, Friedman pointed out that the goal was to “close this quickly.” We could have a general manager vacancy on the Avalanche.
The Avalanche would need to fill the vacancy fast, because the NHL offseason is relatively short and the 2026 NHL Entry Draft is quickly appropaching. It will be on June 26 and 27.
It would be a real downer if MacFarland went to a division rival and was able to cook up some solid trades, free agency signings, and also a really good draft. It wouldn’t sting as much if he went to a team in the Eastern Conference, but the Predators had been the common name to watch in a potential MacFarland move.
MacFarland did some incredible work for the Avalanche, especially last season at the trade deadline, when he traded Mikko Rantanen and acquired Martin Necas and Jack Drury. He was also the one who acquired MacKenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood, leading to a much-improved goaltending room over Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen.
Along with the MacFarland rumors, there have also been rumors of the Avalanche moving on from head coach Jared Bednar, which I don’t like one bit.
MacFarland would definitely be missed by Avalanche fans all around the world. The deal isn’t closed quite yet, so I suppose there is a chance that nothing ends up coming from the visit with the Predators, but the fact that Nashville wants to close the deal fast isn’t a great sign.
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