Joe Sakic Promoted to Avalanche President of Hockey Ops, MacFarland Named GM
It has been quite a year for Burnaby Joe Sakic, winning the Stanley Cup & the Jim Gregory GM of the Year award. The architect of one of the most dominant teams in history, Sakic's leadership, wisdom, & instinct in the sport of hockey has emblazoned him into hockey lore as one of the Greats. Now, after reaching hockey's highest triumph once again, this time as an executive, Sakic's time as a GM has come to an end:
Sakic's promotion to President of Hockey Operations springboards Chris MacFarland, an up & coming executive, into the Avalanche's GM position. MacFarland was reportedly sought after for both the Anaheim Ducks & San Jose Sharks GM positions, but the Avalanche did not grant him permission to speak to other teams. Now we know why.
The reigning Stanley Cup champions have quite the summer ahead of them. With $21 million in cap space, the following players are due for new contracts:
F Artturi Lehkonen (RFA - Arb. Eligible)
F Nazem Kadri (UFA)
F Valeri Nichushkin (UFA)
F André Burakovsky (UFA)
D Josh Manson (UFA)
D Jack Johnson (UFA)
G Darcy Kuemper (UFA)
F Nico Sturm (UFA)
F Darren Helm (UFA)
Although Free Agency technically doesn't start until July 13, Kuemper & Kadri are as good as gone. Nichushkin is reportedly close to a deal, but nothing is in writing as it stands, and the team has until 5pm today (July 11) to qualify Lehkonen, which they would be wise to do. As far as Manson, Burakovsky, Sturm, Johnson, & Helm, the Avs need to be surgical with their cap space. Nathan MacKinnon will command a massive raise next summer, and the $21 million they currently have to spend will go quickly.
Fortunately for them, there are a number of quality players who are available this summer who won't command hefty price tags. Buy-low ptions include Dylan Strome & Dominik Kubalik, neither of which will be qualified by Chicago. Another interesting name to watch could be Yakov Trenin, assuming Nashville doesn't qualify him. But I'm sure the newly promoted Sakic & MacFarland have it mapped out.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Samuel Girard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Claude Giroux | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Oliver Kylington | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||