The Nashville Predators have hired Chris MacFarland to be their president of hockey operations and general manager, luring him away from their Central Division rival Colorado Avalanche.

MacFarland, who has spent the past 11 seasons with the Avalanche, will take over the duties performed by general manager Barry Trotz. Trotz announced his retirement on Feb. 2, but will stay on with the Predators in an advisory role.

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In a news release, Predators majority owner Bill Haslam said that MacFarland was one of their main targets throughout the search. The Avalanche were eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Western Conference finals on May 26.

«We conducted an exhaustive search and were able to meet with several very qualified and impressive candidates,» Haslam said. «But all along, we were hopeful to interview Chris (MacFarland). He turned out to be a perfect fit for us, just what we were looking for to lead our organization moving forward.»

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Barry Trotz, Nashville Predators general manager, NHL franchise’s first coach

Nashville Predators General Manager Barry Trotz addresses the media during the press conference announcing the retirement for the GM at the end of the season at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.

(DENNY SIMMONS / THE TENNESSEAN)

MacFarland, 56, has been with Colorado since 2015, when he was named assistant general manager. In 2022, he took over the general manager position from Joe Sakic, who was elevated to president of hockey operations.

While with Colorado, the Avalanche built a loaded roster that includes Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon and two-time Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar. MacFarland is directly credited with signing MacKinnon to an eight-year deal in 2022, but he also worked alongside Sakic during the Avalanche’s rebuild era — an era that developed MacKinnon into a superstar and the drafting of Makar in 2017.

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MacFarland also oversaw several key trades, including sending Matt Duchene to Ottawa in 2018 in exchange for three draft picks and defenseman Samuel Girard in a three-team deal.

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Colorado’s success the past decade is undeniable. After finishing in last place in the league in 2017, the Avalanche have made the playoffs nine consecutive seasons (2018-2026) and won the Stanley Cup in 2022. This season, they won the Presidents’ Trophy with the best record in the league. Accurately assigning credit for that success is difficult, but MacFarland had a role during all of it.

Prior to his time in Colorado, MacFarland was director of hockey operations and assistant general manager with the Columbus Blue Jackets for 14 seasons (2000 to 2015).

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According to the Avalanche website, MacFarland has «worked in nearly every facet of the organization including scouting at the professional and amateur level, player contract negotiations, salary cap management and arbitration, collective bargaining agreement administration, budgeting and team scheduling issues.»

A New York native, MacFarland played hockey at Pace University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in business in 1992 and a law degree in 1998. He began his career as an intern in the NHL’s New York office in 1993-94 and also worked in the NHL’s productions office.

Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators hire Chris MacFarland as president of hockey operations, general manager





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