The Colorado Avalanche have given the Nashville Predators permission to talk to General Manager Chris MacFarland
What was previously just a report is now confirmed: the Colorado Avalanche have given the Nashville Predators permission to talk to Chris MacFarland, per multiple NHL insiders.
The biggest what-if in this scenario is: what do the Nashville Predators plan to talk to MacFarland about? The easiest answer, and the one many have linked to the recent reporting, is that they want MacFarland to fill their new GM position and potentially the President of Hockey Operations role.
Jonah Sigel, a writer for the Toronto Star, put out the initial report. He heard that MacFarland was going to be named the Predators' new VP of hockey operations.
The Avalanche currently have that position filled by Joe Sakic, so if the Avalanche really want MacFarland to stay, the only hope they have is for him to stay on his own accord and not take the Predators' offer for any reason. There is no other position they can upgrade him to, like they did when they initially gave him the GM role and promoted Sakic.
Teams are allowed to talk to other management and staff, and in most cases, this signals that a change in scenery is on the way, but nothing is confirmed until an initial report is sent out. It would be a massive upgrade for MacFarland and give credit to the work he has done with the Avalanche, but will he take the position?
What if he doesn’t like/agree with some of the topics presented to him by the Predators? He would be jumping from a team with Stanley Cup aspirations to a team that is currently in a shake-up of its entire management staff and is trying to find direction.
The question is whether he wants to continue with the Avalanche and try to win another Stanley Cup, or take on the pressure and challenge of helping the Predators rebuild or retool into a Stanley Cup contender.
