Multiple reports have suggested the Nashville Predators could target Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland to run their hockey operations department. If that opportunity is real, the reaction in Denver may not be panic or outrage.

It may simply be: thanks for the run, and good luck.

That sounds harsh for a general manager who helped oversee a Presidents’ Trophy-caliber season. But in Colorado, regular season success stopped being the standard a long time ago. This organization is measured in Stanley Cups now, and since winning it all in 2022, the Avalanche have delivered a first-round exit, a second-round exit, and now a humiliating Western Conference Final sweep against the Vegas Golden Knights.

At some point, the conversation stops being about bad luck and starts becoming about leadership.

Not just Jared Bednar.

Everybody.

Martin Nečas had a 100-point season. On paper, that sounds like validation for Chris MacFarland after moving on from Mikko Rantanen. And to be fair to Nečas, he did produce through the first two rounds of the playoffs, posting a goal and 12 assists in 13 games while becoming a point-per-game player in the postseason for the first time in his career.

But against Vegas, he disappeared.

Then again, in all fairness, you could say that about the entire team.

Brock Nelson looked like one of the smartest additions Colorado made all season. He played Selke-caliber hockey for stretches, helped Team USA capture Olympic gold, and brought the kind of two-way stability contenders need this time of year.

Then the playoffs hit another level, and suddenly he could barely hit the net.

And then there’s Nathan MacKinnon.

The Avalanche superstar captured his first Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goal scorer in the regular season. He spent the entire year looking like the best player on the planet, dragging Colorado through injuries, inconsistency, and long stretches where the roster around him felt incomplete.

And yet in the biggest series of the season, MacKinnon did not score a single goal.

That almost does not sound real.

Yes, he was clearly hurt. Yes, Vegas defended him aggressively every shift. But when your franchise player goes silent for four straight games and your supporting cast completely crumbles around him, it becomes impossible to ignore what actually happened.

Colorado didn’t just lose.

They disintegrated.

That’s what makes this collapse feel different from the others. This wasn’t a seven-game war. This wasn’t a bounce here or there. The Avalanche looked overwhelmed, frustrated, disconnected, and completely out of answers by the end of the series.

Meanwhile, Vegas looked calm the entire time.

Prepared. Structured. Ruthless.

The Golden Knights were obviously better than their regular-season record suggested, and every stylistic breakdown entering the series hinted this matchup would be tighter than people realized. But even then, nobody expected Colorado to fold the way it did.

Injuries or not, the Avalanche had no response once adversity hit.

That’s why the Mikko Rantanen conversation is never going away.

Was it really worth trading one of the best postseason performers in hockey for a package that still feels incomplete? Rantanen was expensive, yes. The reported ask around $14 million annually was significant. But it also sounded like there was room to negotiate before things completely unraveled.

Instead, MacFarland pulled the trigger.

And now the Avalanche are left trying to explain why the player who used to carry them through playoff rounds is suddenly gone while Colorado keeps falling short.

Meanwhile, Carolina looks thrilled with how its side of the broader situation played out, Logan Stankoven looks like a future star, and they could very well make the Stanley Cup Finals. Meanwhile, Colorado is stuck trying to convince everyone the move was about long-term vision rather than panic management.

Fair or not, that’s the reality now.

You can call it aggressive asset management if you want.

Fans are starting to call it something else.

“Quick Trigger Finger MacFarland.”

And honestly, after the way this season ended, it’s not hard to understand why.

The Avalanche have spent years acting like they can outscore structural problems.

Sometimes they can.

Four rounds of playoff hockey usually say otherwise.

Colorado finally stabilized the position with Darcy Kuemper during the Stanley Cup run. He battled through injuries, gave them timely saves, and helped them win a championship. Then the organization immediately pivoted away from him as if elite goaltending suddenly became optional again.

That decision set off another cycle of bargain hunting.

Alexandar Georgiev was brought in and briefly looked serviceable behind an elite roster before everything unraveled. The Avalanche then pivoted again, bringing in Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood to patch the position together one more time.

Blackwood even received a five-year extension worth $5.25 million annually almost immediately after arriving.

That’s a major commitment for someone who eventually lost his starting job to  Wedgewood this season. Blackwood did play brilliant in Game 4, but that's beside the point. He wasn't consistent enough throughout the season to be considered the number one guy, despite his exorbitant salary. 

And that’s the problem with Colorado’s approach under MacFarland. Every move feels temporary. Every solution feels like a patch instead of a foundation.

There’s always another adjustment coming.

Another reset.

Another attempt to outsmart the problem rather than truly solve it.

What made the 2022 Avalanche special wasn’t just talent.

It was chemistry.

Everybody had a role. Everybody bought in. That team felt connected. Dangerous. Relentless.

This version of the Avalanche feels different.

Now it’s about rentals. Reunions. Deadline swings. Familiar names. Emotional nostalgia plays.

Nazem Kadri returns and immediately people wonder if Colorado is trying to recreate something that already came and went. Erik Johnson gets brought back for another run and fans understandably love the emotion of it, but hockey decisions cannot survive on emotion alone.

At some point, you have to ask what the actual direction is.

Because this current version of the Avalanche looked nothing like the connected machine that rolled through the league in 2022. That team found ways to win.

This team found every way to lose and got exposed while doing so. 

When Vegas punched them, they had no response. When Vegas dished out cheap shots, no one batted an eye. Contenders find ways to survive adversity. Colorado looked consumed by it.

And the scary part is this wasn’t some shocking upset.

Vegas exposed problems that have quietly existed for years.

The Avalanche still have MacKinnon. They still have Cale Makar. As long as those two exist, the Stanley Cup window remains somewhat open. 

But windows eventually close when management mistakes urgency for vision.

Chris MacFarland may not be a bad general manager. But after another disappointing ending, it’s fair to ask whether he’s actually building toward something new — or simply rearranging pieces around a core talented enough to mask deeper flaws for most of the regular season.

Because in Colorado, regular season brilliance no longer means anything.

Not anymore.