Nashville has found its New Leader. Where Does Colorado Go From Here?
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was on SiriusXM NHL Morning Skate with Scott Laughlin and Andrew Raycroft, where he was asked about the Nashville Predators and how they acquired Chris MacFarland from Colorado. And, where does that leave Joe Sakic and the Avalanche?
Writing for NHLRumors.com
Scott Laughlin: “Elliotte, Chris MacFarland is leaving the Avalanche for the Predators, and Joe Sakic is coming back as the general manager of the Avalanche. So give us your opinion on this through two different lenses.”
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Number one, the opportunity MacFarland now has with the Predators, adding the title of president to his general manager role, and the fact that Sakic, as they say, for the foreseeable future, will return to being a general manager. Does the foreseeable future mean weeks, months? I mean, what do you think about when Colorado goes from here, and how long can Joe be back in that seat?”
Elliotte Friedman: “I think it’s at least going through free agency. I think it’s possible for a long time. I understand that he showed, maybe, it was his leadership team, I’m not sure, but I heard about this, that he will stay as GM.
If you listen now, they haven’t spoken yet, but I remember last year when they lost in the first round, watching Sakic at the end of your press conference and the boy still has love, like he’s still on fire. So anyone who thinks they’re emailing or retiring, that’s not true.
The guy who wonders about their longevity is Andrew Cagliano. One thing about Colorado is it has a lot of sharp people there behind the scenes. People like Kevin McDonald. People like Arik Parnass. But they don’t really, I don’t think they’re really ready for the GM seat.
Cogliano probably isn’t there yet, but I’ve heard they’re thinking a lot about him internally. So I wonder if, on some level, someone gets not the title of GM, but more responsibility to prepare for a step there in the future.
So, I would expect Sakic to keep it for a while. I said yesterday, I have heard that they have indicated that (Jared) Bednar will return; he has a year left on his contract, we’ll see what they do there.
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As for Nashville, it was clear that the longer this went on, that they were determined, that they were prohibited from talking to Eric Tulsky during the season, but I think they were determined that when their two seasons ended, they were going to try again for Tulsky, to try to get him or MacFarland.
They really wanted their shot at these two guys. They found MacFarland. I mean, it all happened yesterday, but apparently, they had permission in MacFarland for at least a few days. They met him at dinner in Nashville on Monday night, and I think they basically just told him what it was going to take.
Now, guys, I heard he had a six-year contract, which is a big deal, and he wasn’t going to get that in Colorado. And Joe Sakic was there, like I said, Sakic is still very invested, and if he wanted that kind of contract and that kind of opportunity, it wouldn’t be with the Avalanche.
Nashville took the heat. I have no problem with that. It’s better to go long than short to make sure you get what you want. And not only did they get permission to talk to him, but they had to get him out of the water, and they got it.”
NHLRumors.com note: The Nashville Predators introduced Chris MacFarland on Wednesday, and Bill Haslam confirmed that Nick Saban opened their eyes in the interview process.
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As NHLRumors.com reported, Saban was present throughout the process. Saban knows how to build winning organizations. But there is work to be done in Nashville for MacFarland. The program needs work, and so does the prospect pool.
With Colorado moving, the Avalanche did the right thing by keeping Jared Bednar. He was a non-issue in the playoffs. Let’s see how Sakic manages to do both jobs going forward.
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