After seven years as an assistant GM, Chris MacFarland has been promoted to GM with the Colorado Avalanche.

After seven years as an assistant GM, Chris MacFarland has been promoted to GM with the Colorado Avalanche.

MacFarland, 52, had previously spent six years with the Columbus Blue Jackets as president of hockey operations before getting moved to the assistant GM role from 2007-2015. He joined the Avalanche in 2015-16, where he helped build the 2022 Stanley Cup championship-winning squad alongside Joe Sakic.

Sakic will become the president of hockey operations for the Avalanche, allowing the team to keep both men in the organization. MacFarland had been viewed as a potential GM candidate elsewhere in the league, but the Avalanche clearly found him to be a vital piece of the franchise.