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

[dahrougem2]

Necas was outplayed by the entire 4th line. It could be argued loc would have been a better fit with Mack then necas

Everyone besides MacKinnon was outplayed by the 4th line.

 

[Foppa2118]

I like CMac as a GM and hockey mind, but I have to put some blame on him for not making a handshake deal with Carolina not to trade Mikko out west this year.

Or at least not to Dallas, Vegas, or Edmonton. Or at least not to friggin Dallas who it was clear they may face in the first round, being in the same division.

Didn't need hindsight, it was clear that could be a possibility given Carolina gave up a big piece, didn't have an extension in place, and lost Guentzal to UFA the year before. Also clear Dallas would have been interested, and Mikko may sign an extension there.

We used to hear GM’s make these deals every once in a while. He could have done it, but didn’t. We also have to consider whether it was a good trade to do in the first place. I wasn’t enthralled with it, but I understood the need to spend more on depth, and Cale's raise.

That said, I've always felt game breakers are more important than depth. The deep teams may be able to make runs in the playoffs, but the more talented team usually beats the deeper team in the finals.

Also felt like they could have got Mikko signed for a reasonable amount, if they really wanted, but it didn't seem like they really wanted to. Seems like maybe they had their mind made up on doing this.

Also have to wonder how much losing Mikko took out of MacKinnon’s game. Which also didn't need hindsight to see, it was clear at the time of the trade that was a risk.

In the end this resulted in the worst case scenario. Avs play Dallas, and Mikko has a hat trick and 4 point night to end the Avs season with a dominant third period.

A legendary Avs loss, that feels like the knife got twisted in our backs, thanks to this trade. The kind of loss that's gonna stick with us and be a bad memory for a long time, not just because of how they lost, but who they lost to, and who played the biggest part in it.

 

[Avsfan1921]

Necas was outplayed by the entire 4th line. It could be argued loc would have been a better fit with Mack then necas

And Manson outplayed Makar. The point you are trying to make is not a good one. These guys outplayed the ones we mentioned over a span of seven games, and not even all of them. It’s a silly argument to make on that sample size.

 

[LOFIN]

At the same time, we always need to remember that this trade wasn’t to improve this season. It was to give the Avs a realistic window for the next 2-4 seasons.

Rantanen’s cap at 12+, along with Landeskogs return, the roster they would’ve been able to put together for the next couple of seasons would be so lacking in depth. And that would exasperate the Avs problem even more by forcing them to overplay their top players over and over and over again.

Ultimately, that all matters f*** all if we don't win a cup. In that case, people can rightfully wonder if it had been best to keep Mikko for this run and then see what happens after that.

 

[EdAVSfan]

Ultimately, that all matters f*** all if we don't win a cup. In that case, people can rightfully wonder if it had been best to keep Mikko for this run and then see what happens after that.

Of course people can question all they want.

At the same time, other than 2022, what happened to this team this season has been happening for years.

The AVS were no different than they’ve been.

They very simply choked this series away. 3 3rd period leads given away. The AVS easily could’ve won, but they choked. They weren’t outclassed, they simply didn’t show up at the important moments. The PP had its Jekyll and Hyde moment at the worst possible time.
And it can’t really be attributed to Rantanen.

All season, they had a great PP with Rantanen and then a terrible one with him.
Then when he was gone, the same thing, incredible and awful.

Their special teams absolutely destroyed this playoffs. Awful PP and awful PK.

 

[Grigowski]

Their special teams absolutely destroyed this playoffs. Awful PP and awful PK.

I said it on the main board:

In the end Dallas PP and PK won them this series! Not Mikko Rantanen and his glory night on Saturday, not Oettinger, not even the great DeBoer...

Dallas PP and PK, and their key players showed up and delivered when it mattered. And you have to give them credit for that.,

Everyone know that your Special teams have to be as good as it gets, everyone knows you have to bury your chances in PP....

The AVS just failed there. In both categories. And thats one, if not, of the main reason we are on another early vacation.

All they had to do was just score in that damn 4 min PP in Game 3 and this series would have went in a whole different direction and i am sure there would not have been a Game 7 at all......

But here we are playing "would have, could have...."....

 

[The Merchant]

I like CMac as a GM and hockey mind, but I have to put some blame on him for not making a handshake deal with Carolina not to trade Mikko out west this year.

Or at least not to Dallas, Vegas, or Edmonton. Or at least not to friggin Dallas who it was clear they may face in the first round, being in the same division.

Didn't need hindsight, it was clear that could be a possibility given Carolina gave up a big piece, didn't have an extension in place, and lost Guentzal to UFA the year before. Also clear Dallas would have been interested, and Mikko may sign an extension there.

We used to hear GM’s make these deals every once in a while. He could have done it, but didn’t. We also have to consider whether it was a good trade to do in the first place. I wasn’t enthralled with it, but I understood the need to spend more on depth, and Cale's raise.

That said, I've always felt game breakers are more important than depth. The deep teams may be able to make runs in the playoffs, but the more talented team usually beats the deeper team in the finals.

Also felt like they could have got Mikko signed for a reasonable amount, if they really wanted, but it didn't seem like they really wanted to. Seems like maybe they had their mind made up on doing this.

Also have to wonder how much losing Mikko took out of MacKinnon’s game. Which also didn't need hindsight to see, it was clear at the time of the trade that was a risk.

In the end this resulted in the worst case scenario. Avs play Dallas, and Mikko has a hat trick and 4 point night to end the Avs season with a dominant third period.

A legendary Avs loss, that feels like the knife got twisted in our backs, thanks to this trade. The kind of loss that's gonna stick with us and be a bad memory for a long time, not just because of how they lost, but who they lost to, and who played the biggest part in it.

CMac could've avoided this altogether if he had treated Mikko as a deadline deal. Hindsight is 20/20 and a lot of us liked that he had the balls to pull the trigger early to avoid any potential complications, but had he been traded to Carolina at the deadline he would've been stuck in the East. Crazy to imagine how differently that Stars series goes if he had gone that route instead.

 

[Pokecheque]

I'm not going to blame him for the Mikko deal. Everyone was singing its praises when it happened and for most of the year were quite happy with it. It just happened to bite the team in the ass in ways no one could ever have imagined, including MacFarland himself.

I WILL blame him for the Nelson deal. And the Mittelstadt deal. And the Johansen deal that led to them having to pay to dump Johansen's corpse in Lehigh Valley. And of course, deciding not to get a 2C as the reigning Cup champs and then wasting resources for a half-assed trade for Lars Eller.

Also brought in the single worst goalie in franchise history, and course-corrected far too late, wasting two entire years and valuable playoff seeding (not to mention wearing the living f*** out of the team's core because they had to score five goals a night to even have a chance to start this season) this year.

The trade for the Woodshed looks good, even with Blackwood faltering a bit down the stretch. I really liked the Lindgren trade even though he looked really bad after he got hurt. The Walker trade, I'll admit, surprised me with how bad it was. Turns out you can be a high-tempo player and suck in a high-tempo system. He's more at home with teams who choke the life out of the game to cover up for his defensive shortcomings.

To me there's been way more bad than good. And a GM is supposed to solve problems. The biggest problem this team has had the last three f***ing years has been one he's thrown the entire farm and a former 4th overall pick at and came away with literally nothing.

Not EVERYTHING can be laid at his feet. At least some of these decisions were organizational. But I don't think he's just some puppet, he wields a lot of power, and he used it unwisely.

He needs to go.

 

[dmac7719]

I'm not going to blame him for the Mikko deal. Everyone was singing its praises when it happened and for most of the year were quite happy with it. It just happened to bite the team in the ass in ways no one could ever have imagined, including MacFarland himself.

I WILL blame him for the Nelson deal. And the Mittelstadt deal. And the Johansen deal that led to them having to pay to dump Johansen's corpse in Lehigh Valley. And of course, deciding not to get a 2C as the reigning Cup champs and then wasting resources for a half-assed trade for Lars Eller.

Also brought in the single worst goalie in franchise history, and course-corrected far too late, wasting two entire years and valuable playoff seeding (not to mention wearing the living f*** out of the team's core because they had to score five goals a night to even have a chance to start this season) this year.

The trade for the Woodshed looks good, even with Blackwood faltering a bit down the stretch. I really liked the Lindgren trade even though he looked really bad after he got hurt. The Walker trade, I'll admit, surprised me with how bad it was. Turns out you can be a high-tempo player and suck in a high-tempo system. He's more at home with teams who choke the life out of the game to cover up for his defensive shortcomings.

To me there's been way more bad than good. And a GM is supposed to solve problems. The biggest problem this team has had the last three f***ing years has been one he's thrown the entire farm and a former 4th overall pick at and came away with literally nothing.

Not EVERYTHING can be laid at his feet. At least some of these decisions were organizational. But I don't think he's just some puppet, he wields a lot of power, and he used it unwisely.

He needs to go.

So, you're not going to blame him for the Rantanen deal, cause everybody was singing it's praises.
But you will blame him for Mitts deal, a deal that people were signing his praises for.

How does that make any sense?

 

[Pokecheque]

So, you're not going to blame him for the Rantanen deal, cause everybody was singing it's praises.
But you will blame him for Mitts deal, a deal that people were signing his praises for.

How does that make any sense?

I'm not basing my opinion on what other people said about this deal or that, just saying that people were absolutely LAUDING the Mikko deal for most of the season, it was only after Mikko went crazy the final two games of the series that people turned on it. Perceptions are fickle, that's all I was trying to say there.

The reason I like the Rants trade is that it addressed a crucial depth issue while also bringing in a winger who fit the team very well. And before Drury showed up the team was relying on Parker Kelly as their 3C. Once they got Coyle they moved Drury and Kelly onto a very effective 4th line. If not for that 4th line the Avs don't even GET to game 7. Ultimately I think it was a good move for both the short- and long-term picture. They were never going to be able to pay MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Makar all that money and be able to fill out the depth chart IMO.

The Mitts deal looked really good at first, so yeah I'm looking at it in hindsight, and I'm allowed to change my mind. Ultimately there, they brought in a guy who was a poor skater, unable to really stand the rigors of a full season as a top-six forward, can't really score goals or carry a line on his own, and--this is still a fairly big deal for me--can't win a goddamn faceoff to save his life.

In the grand scheme of things, CMac has made too many mistakes, and those mistakes have cost three full years of this team's contention window. Not everything is his fault, especially Landeskog and Nichushkin, but enough is there to the point where I don't have faith in him figuring this out.

 

[Pokecheque]

MacFarland and Sakic are holding a presser together so I guess that answers my question.

 

[Foppa2118]

CMac could've avoided this altogether if he had treated Mikko as a deadline deal. Hindsight is 20/20 and a lot of us liked that he had the balls to pull the trigger early to avoid any potential complications, but had he been traded to Carolina at the deadline he would've been stuck in the East. Crazy to imagine how differently that Stars series goes if he had gone that route instead.

Totally agree and don't think you needed hindsight to see that.

I was saying that pretty much the whole time. If they had moved him at the deadline, he might not even have signed with Dallas at all in the off season. Maybe he signs in Florida or Toronto if Marner leaves, and if they had better communications during negotiations, he wouldn't have been so upset.

At the very least it would have prevented a secondary trade. It was clear this was a risk from the moment of the trade. To Dallas too.

Avs just lost patience or something. Kinda like the Mitts trade. Perhaps the Brock deal too. Those two weren't the right players to bring in, but they lost patience and just did it anyway.

Based on everything that happened, I always got the impression they had their minds made up on making this trade anyway, and weren't that serious about contract negotiations.

They had reportedly talked to Carolina about Mikko for Necas in the off season, and if they were serious about signing Mikko, then him dropping his price and telling them he's flexible would have resulted in more negotiations closer to the deadline, but instead they traded him right after he told them that.

 

[the_fan]

Fire him…

I was defending CMac, thinking he’s doing a good job, I guess you can appreciate the aggressiveness making moves and trying to fix the team, but he has done too much damage already when you look at his work as a whole

 

[Grigowski]

Fire him…

I was defending CMac, thinking he’s doing a good job, I guess you can appreciate the aggressiveness making moves and trying to fix the team, but he has done too much damage already when you look at his work as a whole

Wont happen.....The presser tomorrow confirms this.

Maybe Bednar and his crew get the memo.....

 

[the_fan]

Wont happen.....The presser tomorrow confirms this.

Maybe Bednar and his crew get the memo.....

I really don’t want to see him make another attempt to fix the 2C. It’s keep failing and we don’t have much assets left. Re-signing Nelson will also be a mistake. Good luck figuring out how to fix the team with CMac still the GM. Those who want Bednar gone, highly doubtful CMac is gonna let Bednar go. The only way we’ll have a coaching change is if we have a new GM

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I really don’t want to see him make another attempt to fix the 2C. It’s keep failing and we don’t have much assets left. Re-signing Nelson will also be a mistake. Good luck figuring out how to fix the team with CMac still the GM. Those who want Bednar gone, highly doubtful CMac is gonna let Bednar go. The only way we’ll have a coaching change is if we have a new GM

I want to bitterly lash out, but I know you are 95% correct here.

I've always said GMs get two HCs. CMac signed Bednar to his current extension. That is his first HC. Honestly, I believe Bednar should be fired now and so next fall I will consider Bednar CMac's second HC as well and the gloves will be off for him.

I just really think it would be a f***ing shame for this core to get old and never have another voice suggest another way.

 

[the_fan]

I want to bitterly lash out, but I know you are 95% correct here.

I've always said GMs get two HCs. CMac signed Bednar to his current extension. That is his first HC. Honestly, I believe Bednar should be fired now and so next fall I will consider Bednar CMac's second HC as well and the gloves will be off for him.

I just really think it would be a f***ing shame for this core to get old and never have another voice suggest another way.

The problem is, the Avs front office thinks as long as they have Nate and Cale, they’ll always have a chance to win regardless what rest of the roster looks like, like getting RyJo, Mittlestadt, Nelson, obviously proves that you can’t win with anyone just because you have Cale and Nate.

This isn’t basketball where all you need is 2 stars and you can surround them with anyone and win. We did have the right team to win in 2022, now we don’t. Mikko for Necas also looking like a major downgrade

 

[lionsDen]

Everyone besides MacKinnon was outplayed by the 4th line.

Everyone besides MacKinnon was outplayed by the 4th line.

that was the point