New Nashville Shot-Caller Finished Second For 2025-26 GM of the Year
The Nashville Predators made Chris MacFarland the franchise's new general manager on June 2. MacFarland replaced Barry Trotz after the Preds legend spent three seasons leading the franchise. He has big shoes to fill, but comes to Broadway with confidence after leading the Colorado Avalanche to the league's best regular season record in 2025-26.
His efforts in building the Avalanche roster saw MacFarland finish second place in the 2025-26 Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award. He finished second to Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin.
#mnwild GM Bill Guerin won the GM of the Year award over now-#Preds president Chris MacFarland by 8 points, despite having 6 fewer 1st place votes. pic.twitter.com/aVlRZDItd9
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) June 27, 2026
MacFarland joined the Colorado Avalanche in 2015 and helped the organization go from last in 2016-17 to the Stanley Cup in 2022. He was promoted in July of 2022 to general manager and elevated the organization even higher. The Avalanche finished this past season by winning the Presidents' Trophy after scoring 121 points, the most in franchise history. MacFarland's fingerprints were all over the roster, and he made NHL trade deadline deals for Nazem Kadri, Brett Kulak, Nicolas Roy, and Nick Blankenburg.
MacFarland has already made two trades during his first month in charge in Nashville, both coming with his former club. He traded for forwards Ross Colton, Jack Drury and Chase Bradley, goalie Isak Posch, and a third round pick and sent the Avalanche forwards Zach L'Heureux and Fedor Svechkov, goalie Magnus Chrona, this year’s third-round pick and a 2027 third-rounder.
He made his first draft selection as Predators GM on Friday night, selecting left wing Wyatt Cullen from Minnesota with the No. 10 overall pick. Cullen is young and will enroll at Minnesota for his freshman season, but he shows impressive offensive skills that can elevate the Predators' standing in the NHL. MacFarland has 10 more picks to use on Saturday as he looks to retool Nashville's roster ahead of the 2026-27 season after being eliminated from the playoffs in the 81st game of the season last year.
David Poile won the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award in 2016-17 as the only Predators GM to receive the honor. Poile served as Predators GM from the inception of the franchise in 1997 until he was replaced by Trotz in 2023. He built rosters in Nashville that won one conference title, two Central Division titles, and made 14 playoff appearances as the Predators went from an expansion team to an established contender.
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Joe Gaither covers the Nashville Predators for Nashville Predators On SI. He also oversees videos and podcasts for Alabama Crimson Tide On SI/BamaCentral. He began his sports media career in radio in 2019, working for three years in Tuscaloosa covering the University of Alabama and other local high school sports. In 2023 he joined BamaCentral to cover a variety of Crimson Tide sports and recruiting, in addition to hosting the “Joe Gaither Show” podcast. His work has also appeared on the Boston College, Miami, Missouri and Vanderbilt college On SI sites.