Salary Cap: Chris MacFarland - Record as Avalanche GM (Updates In First Post)

[Pokecheque]

Jesus...Avs last two GMs prior to Sakic are completely out of hockey. Pretty much tells you all you need to know.

 

[Bender]

Jesus...Avs last two GMs prior to Sakic are completely out of hockey. Pretty much tells you all you need to know.

I never believed they were ever fully in charge to begin with. Maybe Giguere for a year but Sherman came from merchandising and they put him in that spot so that he'd deal with the media but the actual decision makers were behind the scenes.

It's still funny to me to this day that I argued with some people on here that actually thought Greg Sherman went from managing T-Shirts to an NHL team seemingly overnight. Lol

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I never believed they were ever fully in charge to begin with. Maybe Giguere for a year but Sherman came from merchandising and they put him in that spot so that he'd deal with the media but the actual decision makers were behind the scenes.

It's still funny to me to this day that I argued with some people on here that actually thought Greg Sherman went from managing T-Shirts to an NHL team seemingly overnight. Lol

Well, look at the team we were icing. It's not too hard to believe the Avs actually did that.

[Edit...Guess what I'm trying to say is that Greg from Accounting, probably wouldn't have been a whole lot worse than Eric from Pierre's loins.]

 

[Bender]

Well, look at the team we were icing. It's not too hard to believe the Avs actually did that.

[Edit...Guess what I'm trying to say is that Greg from Accounting, probably wouldn't have been a whole lot worse than Eric from Pierre's loins.]

I think he could have been much worse but that's based off the interview he gave that kid in the back of that truck.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I think he could have been much worse but that's based off the interview he gave that kid in the back of that truck.

Giving an interview, eh....Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

 

[Bender]

Giving an interview, eh....Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

Lol well in this particular case that's what this was. I think it got taken down but it was such a weird video on YouTube... I'm sure some people remember that...

Edit - just found this while looking for it :

Matt Hunwick: Living Proof that Greg Sherman is out to win the Stanley Cup

What does Matt Hunwick really mean for the Colorado Avalanche?

www.milehighhockey.com

That's quite the headline...

 

[Foppa2118]

Lol well in this particular case that's what this was. I think it got taken down but it was such a weird video on YouTube... I'm sure some people remember that...

Edit - just found this while looking for it :

Matt Hunwick: Living Proof that Greg Sherman is out to win the Stanley Cup

What does Matt Hunwick really mean for the Colorado Avalanche?

www.milehighhockey.com

That's quite the headline...

"Matt Hunwick's time as an Av may be drawing to a close, but Greg Sherman will fill this team with players like him for years to come."

How prescient.

 

[The Merchant]

 

[Metallo]

Wtf is the difference between "public" and "fan base"?

 

[niwotsblessing]

Wtf is the difference between "public" and "fan base"?

Public could include fans of other teams (poor bastards), whereas Avs fans are a more narrow demographic.

 

[UnkleKraker]

Public could include fans of other teams (poor bastards), whereas Avs fans are a more b*thcy demographic.

FTFY.

 

[SaltySkywalker]

The Public's eye feels a bit sugar coated, but it's hard to argue with how well this organization has done since the abysmal year. I'd rate "Draft and Development" closer to a "C" though.

 

[niwotsblessing]

The Public's eye feels a bit sugar coated, but it's hard to argue with how well this organization has done since the abysmal year. I'd rate "Draft and Development" closer to a "C" though.

Looking up at a "C."

 

[shadow1]

Spoiler

Spoiler: 2017

Aside from the O'Reilly trade - in which his hand was forced - Sakic has made no big trades. He has no stamp on the team.
Most dislike Greg Shermans tenure - including me - but give the guy credit for going out and bringing in key players.
Sakic, meanwhile, has basically nickel and dimed the club to death, replacing lost talent (Stastny, O'Reilly) with washed up veterans/low upside free agents.
I'm guilty of liking (most) of his moves at face value, but the overall product when the dust has settled has been horrendous.

Spoiler: 2018

The prospect pool is insanely healthy compared to last year. In addition to acquiring Bowers and Kamanev via trade, the Avalanche have five picks in the first three rounds next year. If Ottawa finishes where we think they're going to finish next year, their 2019 3rd round pick will basically end up being a 2nd rounder.

Free agency this year was a bit status quo, but I think we'll see Sakic swing a trade at some point early this season.

During the Sakic regime, Colorado has swung back to acquire players they were previously linked to. Examples include Rene Bourque, Sven Andrighetto, and recently Ian Cole. Just a hunch, but I wouldn't be shocked to see the Avalanche go after Jordan Eberle, who they were rumored to be interested in last off-season (prior to his acquisition by the New York Islanders).

Basically the team is in great shape. There is young, competitive, inexpensive product on the ice, and a strong prospect pool to back it up.

Spoiler: 2019

Okay, so my hunch on Eberle was wrong.

Sakic was a lot more aggressive this off-season, adding Kadri, Donskoi, Burakovsky, and Bellemare, while re-signing Wilson.

Last year, it felt like he insulated some areas of strength (checking line, defense, goaltending) by adding Calvert, Cole, and Grubauer. With the additions this off-season, it's clear Sakic is addressing this club's area of weakness, which was (past tense) forward depth.

There are still some interesting stories to follow this season. Will Philip Grubauer hold up for 60 starts? Will Cale Makar, a rookie, be able to adequately replace Tyson Barrie's production? Will one of Burakovsky, Donskoi, or Jost be able to produce like a top-6 forward?

All of those stories are subplots to the main headline, which is that the Avalanche Are Cup Contenders. Deep, talented, young, and no glaring/crippling weaknesses. Hopefully the club can make a deep run this season (or go all the way?).

Spoiler: 2020

I only try to post in this thread once per year (normally in the summer), so I guess this is my post. I think Colorado is more or less done this off-season.

At this point, we're in "what more can you ask for?" territory regarding Sakic's performance as a GM. Colorado continues to get better every year, while also strengthening it's prospect pool simultaneously.

Since losing to the San Jose Sharks in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals, Sakic and co. have made the following changes:
Out:
C Alex Kerfoot, C Carl Soderberg
LW Gabriel Bourque, LW Matt Nieto
RW Sven Andrighetto, RW Colin Wilson
D Tyson Barrie, D Patrik Nemeth, D Nikita Zadorov
G Semyon Varlamov

In:
C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, C Nazem Kadri
LW Andrei Burakovsky, LW Brandon Saad
RW Jonas Donskoi, RW Valeri Nichushkin
D Devon Toews

Drafted in Rd 1: D Bowen Byram, C Alex Newhook, D Justin Barron
I skipped a few rental players, but the list speaks for itself. Sakic has upgraded everywhere, while somehow adding multiple blue chip prospects in the process. Bravo.

But to take my off my homerish, rose-colored glasses for a moment, the one area Sakic and co. need to improve in is developing prospects.

At the time of this writing, the Avalanche haven't developed a non-1st round player into an NHL regular since 2009 (both Ryan O'Reilly and Tyson Barrie).

• 2014: No player selected in this draft is currently in the organization
• 2015: A home run with the 10th overall pick (Mikko Rantanen), followed by whiffs on all of their remaining six picks, including two 2nd round picks
• 2016: Only Tyson Jost (10th overall) figures to be an NHLer from this draft, and he doesn't appear to be longed for the Avalanche organization (current role is 12/13 forward)

The Bednar-led NHL coaching staff has done a great job in recent years with reclamation projects, such as Ryan Graves, Patrik Nemeth, and Valeri Nichushkin (to name a few). But organizationally, drafting and developing remains an uphill battle (aside from layup picks like Cale Makar).

I defended Sakic a few years ago because he inherited an awful prospect pool, but the onus is on him and the Avalanche scouting team to hit on some non-1st round draft picks. Personally, the last few drafts have given me some hope; names like Annunen, Beaucage, and Timmins seem to have NHL futures. But so did names like Bigras, Greer, and Meloche.

Sakic Rating: 5

Spoiler: 2021

My yearly post. With a little over $2M in cap space and more than a week removed from the start of free agency, I assume the Avalanche are done.


For the first time in a while, I have a bad taste in my mouth about how an Avalanche off-season has gone down.

Cale Makar was re-signed without much fanfare, but the negotiations with Gabe Landeskog were tumultuous, which put a dark cloud over the club heading into Free Agency. Ultimately the captain was re-signed in the 11th hour, but -- despite a negotiation so lengthy the Avalanche's reported "Plan B" (Frederik Andersen) had already committed to another club -- Vezina Trophy nominee Philip Grubauer was lost via Free Agency.

One blockbuster trade (Kuemper) and two value signings (Helm, Murray) later, Sakic appears to be done. And it's extremely underwhelming.

With a fully healthy roster - sans (1) suspended Nazem Kadri - Colorado's forward depth was exposed during its second round defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights. After losing (and not replacing) forwards Jonas Donskoi and Brandon Saad this off-season, forward depth is even more of an issue now.

While I understand low salary cap space was prohibitive to addressing the Avalanche's forward depth woes, Sakic had options to create more space -- such as buying out the final (2) years of Erik Johnson's 7-year contract or including JT Compher in the Kuemper trade -- that he chose not to exercise. As a result, $9.5M will be allocated to two players who played very little role in Colorado's successful 2020-2021 season.

Ultimately the Avalanche are still one of the best teams in the NHL, but there's only one cup winner every year and Sakic didn't do enough this off-season to put Colorado over the top. On the contrary - the team is objectively worse.

But I'm still going to give Sakic the benefit of the doubt. He's been one of the best General Managers in the NHL the last half decade and has positioned the Avalanche in a very good spot overall. But I think he'll have his work cut out for him this season as center depth and top-6 scoring appear to be glaring issues.

A couple random thoughts:

• The situations are wildly different, but I keep seeing parallels between this off-season and the 2008 off-season (I'm old). Back then, Colorado replaced LW Andrew Brunette, LW Peter Forsberg, D Jeff Finger, D Kurt Sauer, and G Jose Theodore with LW Darcy Tucker and G Andrew Raycroft. Woof.
• I also see some similarities to the 2018 off-season. Sakic added LW Matt Calvert and D Ian Cole - moves that added depth to areas of strength - while failing to address needs on the 2nd Line.
• I'm still both simultaneously optimistic and concerned about the prospect pool. Alan Hepple is out and Wade Klippenstein is in, but Hepple's finger prints will remain on Colorado's prospect pool for a while. Will any of Hepple's non-layup picks pan out? Why haven't players like Shane Bowers or Martin Kaut been able to crack Colorado's line-up when the competition has been players like Liam O'Brien and Kiefer Sherwood?
• Players linked to the Avalanche in rumors this off-season: C Christian Dvorak, LW Jaden Schwartz, LW Tomas Tatar, RW Ondrej Kase, D Seth Jones, D Jamie Oleksiak, D Ryan Suter, G Frederik Andersen, G Darcy Kuemper*

With the news Sakic has been promoted to Colorado Avalanche Team President, I wanted to share my final thoughts (confessions?) about his tenure as GM.

Last summer I thought Sakic had a rocky off-season. The team captain nearly walked via free agency, the goaltending situation got hairy, and overall it felt like the Avalanche were worse on paper; not a great look for a team coming off a tough post-season loss to Vegas.

I should've had had more confidence - all shortcomings in Colorado's roster ended up being addressed by Sakic in season. He had a nice waiver grab in the first half of the year (Aube-Kubel), and followed it up with one of the best trade deadlines in NHL history (Cogliano, Lehkonen, Manson, Sturm), helping the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in one of the more dominating runs in recent memory.

Great season from the best GM in the game.

Ironic that five years ago, many fans would've said he was the worst GM in the game. That's how life goes though, it's always a series of ups and downs. Doesn't help when someone else (*cough* Patrick Roy) has a hand on the wheel of the ship you're trying to steer.

With my last post in this thread, I thought it would be fun to look back at what - in my opinion - are Sakic's top-10 moves as GM (and also his bottom-3 for fun):

• Dishonorable Mention #3: July 1st, 2014

RW Jarome Iginla (3yr, $5.33M AAV signing)

• Dishonorable Mention #2: July 1st, 2015

D Francois Beauchemin (3yr, $4.5M AAV signing)

• Dishonorable Mention #1: July 1st, 2014

2016 2nd Round Pick 2017 6th Round Pick	D Brad Stuart (1yr, $3.6M AAV; extended two add'l yrs at $3.6M AAV)

And now for the best moves in Sakic's 9-year tenure as GM:

• Honorable Mention: January 15th, 2017

(Waiver Claim)	LW Matt Nieto

(Note: Might be a sketchy choice as an honorable mention, but I personally feel this was the first move post-Roy that was somewhat exciting. Nieto was the first of many young, fast players Sakic began adding after years of collecting players from the Cretaceous era)

• Best Move #10: February 26th, 2018

D Chris Bigras	D Ryan Graves

• Best Move #9: March 14th, 2022

D Drew Helleson 2023 2nd Round Pick	D Josh Manson

• Best Move #8: June 22nd, 2018

2018 2nd Round Pick	D Brooks Orpik G Philip Grubauer (extended three yrs at $3.33M AAV)

• Best Move #7: July 28th, 2021

:coyotes
D Conor Timmins 2022 1st Round Pick 2024 3rd Round Pick	G Darcy Kuemper

• Best Move #6: June 28th, 2019

RW Scott Kosmachuk 2020 2nd Round Pick 2020 3rd Round Pick	LW Andrei Burakovsky (extended one yr at $3.25M AAV)

• Best Move #5: March 21st, 2022

D Justin Barron 2024 2nd Round Pick	LW Artturi Lehkonen

• Best Move #4: August 19th, 2019

RW Valeri Nichushkin (1yr, 850K AAV signing)

• Best Move #3: July 1st, 2019

C Alexander Kerfoot D Tyson Barrie 2020 6th Round Pick	C Nazem Kadri D Calle Rosen 2020 3rd Round Pick (Jean-Luc Foudy)

• Best Move #2: October 12th, 2020

2021 2nd Round Pick 2022 2nd Round Pick	D Devon Toews (extended four yrs at $4.1M AAV)

• Best Move #1: November 5th, 2017

C Kyle Turris	C Matt Duchene	C Shane Bowers LW Vladislav Kamenev D Samuel Girard G Andrew Hammond 2019 1st Round Pick (Bowen Byram) 2019 3rd Round Pick (Matthew Stienburg) 2018 2nd Round Pick (traded to Pittsburgh)

I liked to do yearly summer posts during Sakic's tenure as GM, so I thought I'd start doing them for GM Chis MacFarland as well.

Overall, it was a 5-star off-season in my book. MacFarland made several major re-signings, including LW Artturi Lehkonen, D Josh Manson, and RW Valeri Nichushkin. Most importantly, MacFarland signed C Nathan MacKinnon to a massive extension, making him this highest paid player in the NHL.

Though Sakic was technically still the GM when this move went down, I also liked the trade for G Alex Georgiev. He was a guy I thought the Avalanche might go after last off-season (before acquiring Darcy Kuemper), and I'm optimistic about what he can do this upcoming year.

If I do have a nitpick, it's regarding the Avalanche's 2C position. Colorado had enough cap space to address the vacancy left by Nazem Kadri - including retaining Kadri himself, had they wanted to - but instead opted to bring in Evan Rodrigues (1x$2M) and re-sign #5 defenseman Josh Manson (4x$4.5M).

This decision has caused the roster to be very bottom heavy, while still having a gaping hole on the second line. If a player (like Alex Newhook) doesn't step up to fill the void, it's going to be the talk of the season - though I'm sure it'll be addressed externally if internal options don't pan out.

 

[Pokecheque]

Lol well in this particular case that's what this was. I think it got taken down but it was such a weird video on YouTube... I'm sure some people remember that...

Edit - just found this while looking for it :

Matt Hunwick: Living Proof that Greg Sherman is out to win the Stanley Cup

What does Matt Hunwick really mean for the Colorado Avalanche?

www.milehighhockey.com

That's quite the headline...

Geeeeeeeeez, good thing I didn't read this back in the day, would've sent me into a full-on rage. Bumwhack remains my least-favorite Av of all time, he even passed up Bates Battaglia, which I didn't think was possible.

I talk with Cole semi-regularly on Twitter, he's a pretty knowledgeable guy on hockey. I won't hold this against him as I had some ghastly takes just last week, let alone ten years ago. But I was definitely right about Bumwhack from the get-go.

 

[ASmileyFace]

With Camp starting and the opening night roster more or less set it's time to rate MacFarland's first offseason as a GM. While CMac is benefiting from the Sakic effect and post cup glow it's hard to find anything to complain about his first few months as GM.

He focused early on keeping the band together and did very well. I love the Lehkonen contract, mostly like the Manson one, and really like the fair value deal for Nichushkin. His biggest splash of the off season was making Nathan MacKinnon the highest paid player in the NHL starting next season in about as fair value a team could get out of a top 3 player in the world.

The biggest question marks going into the season were the 2C hole with the departure of Kadri and goaltending. Considering the flat cap world and lack of good options for filling either void cheaply I thought CMac did fairly well. The trade and sign for Georgiev was good gamble with how well the Avs team defense seems to cover up goaltending issues. The Signing of Evan Rodrigues on a cheap 1 year deal is great for the overall C depth for the team, even if he doesn't live up to last season expectations. Between Rodrigues, Compher, Meyers and Newhook the Avs have a gluttony of pending UFA "centers" who could have a breakout contract year.

Overall I'm starting out by giving Chris MacFarland a 5 star rating. I would have voted 4 but getting MacKinnon signed before camp I had to bump my score.

I'll be curious to see if his 2C by committee and goaltending gambles payoff, because if they don't the trade deadline is going to be very interesting with how few 1st and 2nd round draft picks the Avs have to spare. Next offseason is going to be CMac's first real test. The cap crunch is going to finally rear it's head big time and smart moves will have to be made to keep this team a contender moving forward.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Draft and develop A?

If it's not a top 10 pick these guys have no idea what to do.

 

[Richard88]

Draft and develop A?

If it's not a top 10 pick these guys have no idea what to do.

Avs are elite at the top 10 though. Those picks aren't guarantees, and other organisations miss much more often with those picks which is a lot worse than missing on late picks.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Avs are elite at the top 10 though. Those picks aren't guarantees, and other organisations miss much more often with those picks which is a lot worse than missing on late picks.

Absolutely. The top 10 has been great except Jost. However, everything after that has sucked since 2009 except probably Newhook.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Absolutely. The top 10 has been great except Jost. However, everything after that has sucked since 2009 except probably Newhook.

Ya. Wish we had hit on at least one decent player. Maybe they consider players like Graves, nuke, Girard as Avs development?

 

[Pokecheque]

Ya. Wish we had hit on at least one decent player. Maybe they consider players like Graves, nuke, Girard as Avs development?

Graves should count, yes. I don't think G does as he was a trade acquisition and really didn't spend any time in the Avs system. Nuke was one hell of a find by the pro scouts (who have a stellar reputation) but not the amateur scouts.

It's no secret they needed to take a sledgehammer to the entire draft/development apparatus, instead they just keep making little tweaks.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Question on drafting....Do good player agents also have a good eye for amateur scouting as well?

 

[Pokecheque]

Question on drafting....Do good player agents also have a good eye for amateur scouting as well?

Lacroix most certainly did not. Neither did Mike Barnett. Those are the first two examples that spring to mind for me.

Speaking of which, did Trevor Timmins ever get another gig? He was the Habs draft guru forever. Certainly the most fit talent evaluator around, though he really hit the skids once Bergevin took over.

 

[Sea Eagles]

Draft and develop A?

If it's not a top 10 pick these guys have no idea what to do.

Show me a few rosters, that still have a lot of their round 2-whatevers still playing for them (in their top team), and you'll find it's very hit and miss. I'm sorry, but this club has an absolute track record of developing players from good players, to amazing players.

Donskoi, Nichushkin, Burakovsky, Kadri, Newhook (in the process), are just some VERY recent players I'm thinking of.

 

[Foppa2118]

Lacroix most certainly did not. Neither did Mike Barnett. Those are the first two examples that spring to mind for me.

Speaking of which, did Trevor Timmins ever get another gig? He was the Habs draft guru forever. Certainly the most fit talent evaluator around, though he really hit the skids once Bergevin took over.

Do we know how involved PL was during the 90's when the Nords/Avs had so much success at the draft? I don't think they had a head scout back then. Somebody had to make the final call though.