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

[RoyIsALegend]

They could have trade him away but the cost was a 1st round pick. Which we later used to dump RyJo.

The RyJo pick was the 2025 1st. This would’ve been a 2023 1st to attach to EJ, which we ending up using to draft Cal Ritchie.

 

[dahrougem2]

If Makar walks in 27/28 that'll be the end for this core and the time to start building up futures. If he stays, they'll keep trying for a couple more seasons with MacK/Nuke/Necas/Makar/Toews. At latest the rebuild will start in 30/31 imo but most likely before then.

24-25 best chance for a cup
25-26 still a good chance
26-27 a good chance if Necas stays, otherwise a low chance
27-28 rebuild if Makar leaves, otherwise a low chance
28-29 a low chance or miss playoffs
29-30 a low chance or miss playoffs
30-31 rebuild

Cale Makar will have a record breaking contract on his desk the second July 1st hits.

 

[Balthazar]

Cale Makar will have a record breaking contract on his desk the second July 1st hits.

McDavid goes first so I don't think it will be record breaking. Unless we're talking defensemen only.

 

[Vaslof]

Cale Makar will have a record breaking contract on his desk the second July 1st hits.

For sure. It's not the money I'm worried about.

 

[Pokecheque]

You missed the obvious and best. Solving the goaltending situation by acquiring Blackwood and Deadwood. Care to guess how this season would have gone with the Georgie and Justus show? I don't believe Colton was a bad call at all. Mitts? Perhaps a player who got good stats with an inferior team (Buffalo.) Certainly not built for the playoffs. Not tough enough. Acquiring Necas and Drury was exceptional - - especially with Rants agent holding a gun to the Avs head. On the flip side, the Johansen deal was an absolute disaster. And costly to get out from. The acquisition of Nelson and Coyle, while expensive, has totally changed this team. A lot more depth, grit and size. And, scoring ability. Now Bedsy can reduce the minutes of Mac, Makar, Nuke & Toews for the stretch run and playoffs. Hey, I also love having E.J. back. Even if he doesn't play that much, he's a great leader and influence in the locker room.

He deserves credit for the Woodshed acquisitions but I think he also deserves blame for Georgiev, especially his decision to keep him after last offseason. Now…was there a way to deal him and upgrade the goaltending position? I don’t know, but standing pat there led to a really bad start due to the worst goalie tandem in the league.

Anyway, I’m excited for what happens next, after what has been an extraordinarily frustrating season as a fan, so I’ll give him props for doing everything possible to right the ship.

 

[smakki]

Salary cap going almost 20m in up next 3 years and MacFarland saving pennies with top 5 scorer last 5 years in the NHL who already happens to be Avs legend loved by his team mates and fans.

Necas is amazing player, but can't see how this is something that is a praise for MacFarland. But the future will tell. Necas might start producing 40+ goal seasons. Not so easy to do though.

Rantanen is now the top earner in the NHL, makes more than Draisatl. Good for him.

 

[Ararana]

Two things are true:

1 - cMac went balls to the wall this year, made a shit ton of trades, and put the Avs in a pretty damn good position to win this year
2 - He completely f***ed the future to win right now. I don't even see a path forward for next year if Nelson does't extend for something reasonable. They have little cap space, and no assets, to find another 2C.

Hard not to look at the Avs cup window now and see that it's only 4 months long.

 

[Grigowski]

Salary cap going almost 20m in up next 3 years and MacFarland saving pennies with top 5 scorer last 5 years in the NHL who already happens to be Avs legend loved by his team mates and fans.

Rantanen is now the top earner in the NHL, makes more than Draisatl. Good for him.

 

[Rockenator]

He deserves credit for the Woodshed acquisitions but I think he also deserves blame for Georgiev, especially his decision to keep him after last offseason. Now…was there a way to deal him and upgrade the goaltending position? I don’t know, but standing pat there led to a really bad start due to the worst goalie tandem in the league.

Anyway, I’m excited for what happens next, after what has been an extraordinarily frustrating season as a fan, so I’ll give him props for doing everything possible to right the ship.

You still woefully undervalue CMac's ability to pickup two, not one, but two exceptional goaltenders when EVERYONE in the league knew the Avs needed to fix their goaltending situation. You can talk about every other deal under the sun with CMac but Blackwood and Wedgewood give the Avs a fighting chance at the Cup this year and well beyond without having to worry every night about who is in goal.

 

[shadow1]

He deserves credit for the Woodshed acquisitions but I think he also deserves blame for Georgiev, especially his decision to keep him after last offseason. Now…was there a way to deal him and upgrade the goaltending position? I don’t know, but standing pat there led to a really bad start due to the worst goalie tandem in the league.

Anyway, I’m excited for what happens next, after what has been an extraordinarily frustrating season as a fan, so I’ll give him props for doing everything possible to right the ship.

In this morning's Pierre LeBrun article, MacFarland said this about the goaltending:

"For us, the two moves that were probably the ones that we weren’t really thinking about or focused on going into the year was the goaltending moves. To make two trades on that front certainly wasn’t planned or contemplated in training camp."

Horrible miscalculation by CMac and the front office. I don't think anyone expected it to get as bad as it did - IIRC Annunen and George were pulled a combined 5 times in 15 starts at one point - but it was obvious that goaltending was a major weakness.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Two things are true:

1 - cMac went balls to the wall this year, made a shit ton of trades, and put the Avs in a pretty damn good position to win this year
2 - He completely f***ed the future to win right now. I don't even see a path forward for next year if Nelson does extend for something reasonable. They have little cap space, and no assets, to find another 2C.

Hard not to look at the Avs cup window now and see that it's only 4 months long.

Your point #2 doesn't make sense. Did you mean if Nelson doesn't extend for something reasonable?

 

[Ararana]

Your point #2 doesn't make sense. Did you mean if Nelson doesn't extend for something reasonable?

*doesn't. Post edited, thank you.

 

[Grigowski]

Horrible miscalculation by CMac and the front office. I don't think anyone expected it to get as bad as it did - IIRC Annunen and George were pulled a combined 5 times in 15 starts at one point - but it was obvious that goaltending was a major weakness.

Yup. The writting was on the wall.

And i am sure to this day, that Georgiev was a problem in the locker too or didnt really "gel" in....

Our 2 woods not only brought in much needed help on the ice, they also seem to be down to earth guys and good for the locker too.

But yeah, we could have avoided this fiasco in net. In the end it cost us maybe the central or at least 2nd spot.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Not only he changed both goalies but he did it within a week and during the first part of the season which helped with keeping the cost down.

 

[Rockenator]

Not only he changed both goalies but he did it within a week and during the first part of the season which helped with keeping the cost down.

Absolutely. Enough of the "fiasco" talk. The net-net is that the Avs are set in goal for the future with two excellent goaltenders.

 

[LTCPain75]

Absolutely. Enough of the "fiasco" talk. The net-net is that the Avs are set in goal for the future with two excellent goaltenders.

And Nabokov developing to be our GOTF

 

[AllAboutAvs]

And Nabokov developing to be our GOTF

I am not sold on Nabokov. He plays way too small in net for my liking. Georgiev has the same issue and we all know out that turned out. He needs to change that IMO if he wants to succeed in the NHL.

 

[Pokecheque]

And Nabokov developing to be our GOTF

At least they're no longer DGAF about GOTF. I'm screamed for years that they've half-assed goalie drafting and development for years (let us not forget Hepple's "European Strategy") until last year's draft. At the very least I hope this is an indication that now they're going to actually put some effort in, instead of kinda/sorta picking one guy (Annunen) and then ignoring the problem for the next 6-7 years.

If they go with no goalies or just pick in the 7th round again, then that'll be an indication they're just going back to same ol', same ol'.

 

[Richard88]

Two things are true:

1 - cMac went balls to the wall this year, made a shit ton of trades, and put the Avs in a pretty damn good position to win this year
2 - He completely f***ed the future to win right now. I don't even see a path forward for next year if Nelson does't extend for something reasonable. They have little cap space, and no assets, to find another 2C.

Hard not to look at the Avs cup window now and see that it's only 4 months long.

The window isn't just 4 months. Just because there's no futures left doesn't mean that the window is closed. The roster is still stacked, and the cap situation is really solid.

You can re-sign Nelson and Drouin this year even with Landeskog coming back, simply by moving Colton and Wood. See my post in the trade thread for details on that.

In 2026 Necas will need a raise but that can get covered by the cap jumping significantly higher, to like $105m.

Coyle and Manson will hit UFA and Drury will be an RFA. Coyle probably walks and Drury takes his spot at 3C, which is a role he's already showed he can play. Replacing Manson at 3RHD will be the most critical thing to do in 2026 after extending Necas, and there will be plenty of cap room to do just that.

The way this roster is constructed the teams window will stay open as long as the age curve for the core players allows. Until then CMac just needs to keep going all-in each year.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

If it comes to it another solution is to trade even Coyle in order to keep Nelson as it is easier to find a 3C than a 2C. We could run with Drury and Kelly as 3C and 4C until the TDL and find a 3C at that time. Of course I don't believe it will be necessary as we have Colton, Wood and Manson to use in trade and/or Lindy to create cap space. I'm only saying it is also another possibility. If Landy comes back next season you do everything you can to keep Nelson as he is the most important player to keep (assuming he keeps fitting very well until the end of the playoffs).

 

[Avsfan1921]

The window isn't just 4 months. Just because there's no futures left doesn't mean that the window is closed. The roster is still stacked, and the cap situation is really solid.

You can re-sign Nelson and Drouin this year even with Landeskog coming back, simply by moving Colton and Wood. See my post in the trade thread for details on that.

In 2026 Necas will need a raise but that can get covered by the cap jumping significantly higher, to like $105m.

Coyle and Manson will hit UFA and Drury will be an RFA. Coyle probably walks and Drury takes his spot at 3C, which is a role he's already showed he can play. Replacing Manson at 3RHD will be the most critical thing to do in 2026 after extending Necas, and there will be plenty of cap room to do just that.

The way this roster is constructed the teams window will stay open as long as the age curve for the core players allows. Until then CMac just needs to keep going all-in each year.

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Good post. Another point being that we have had very good results finding quality players through our pro scouts. Sure, there’s been some misses, but by and large, they’ve managed to find some real quality at bargain prices. If that keeps up it offsets our inability to draft, and replenish moved assets, substantially.

 

[Pokecheque]

Good post. Another point being that we have had very good results finding quality players through our pro scouts. Sure, there’s been some misses, but by and large, they’ve managed to find some real quality at bargain prices. If that keeps up it offsets our inability to draft, and replenish moved assets, substantially.

Well, I don't think it's *offset* that rather glaring organizational weakness. It's covered up for it somewhat, and even that has reached the point of diminishing returns now that the core has begun to age. Their last foray into the bargain bin wasn't great but I guess it helped snag Nelson and Lindgren somewhat, but it's remarkable that every single one of those guys is now gone, and one of them didn't even make it to the beginning of the regular season.

So far the NCAA FA market has helped the most, giving them Kerfoot, O'Connor, and Malinski.

 

[Avsfan1921]

Well, I don't think it's *offset* that rather glaring organizational weakness. It's covered up for it somewhat, and even that has reached the point of diminishing returns now that the core has begun to age. Their last foray into the bargain bin wasn't great but I guess it helped snag Nelson and Lindgren somewhat, but it's remarkable that every single one of those guys is now gone, and one of them didn't even make it to the beginning of the regular season.

So far the NCAA FA market has helped the most, giving them Kerfoot, O'Connor, and Malinski.

I didn’t say completely offsets lol. Nothing will completely offset and they need to continue to get better in those areas.