Why Hiring GM Chris MacFarland was Such a Huge Win for the Nashville Predators

From the numerous draft picks to the increased responsibility, the end of the NHL franchise's four-month search for a new general manager was a lot more than just right place, right time.

Chris MacFarland left the Colorado Avalanche to be the president of hockey operations and general manager of the Nashville Predators. / Colorado Avalanche

There are times in which one move can cause the entire National Hockey League to shift a little, and Tuesday may have been one of those days. It certainly had the feel of it, and not because the Stanley Cup Final got under way between polar opposites Carolina and Vegas.

It happened earlier, when with little initial fanfare, a simple release announced the conclusion of four-month search for a new person to lead the front office of the Nashville Predators. Chris MacFarland was hired as president of hockey operations and general manager.

Here's a strong indication of how good a move it was, try and think of anyone else who could have been higher on the wish list, and in a perfect world would have been available/open to taking the position.

Good luck with that.

This was a huge win for the Predators. He's even from the same brutal division, the Central.

"I believe Nashville will be a great fit for me," MacFarland said as part of a statement, and we'll start with that part of with things that a lot of people don't think about when it comes to this kind of position.

McFarland is 56. He's old enough to have a lot of experience in the NHL, but is still far from the age in which many hockey officials don't adjust to the latest trends or innovations. He has four kids and along with his wife keeps the home life private. That's easier to do in a market like Smashville.

He was born in The Bronx, attended Pace University (private business school in New York) and then stuck around to attend law school. His entry into the NHL was while serving as an intern in the league offices in New York, and then with NHL Productions.

McFarland played the game and then dedicated his professional life to it, beginning with the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he was in hockey operations for 16 years, the last two of which as the general manager of the franchise's minor-league Springfield Falcons in the AHL.

From there he went to the Colorado Avalanche, and was named an assistant general manager to Joe Sakic on May 21, 2015. The Avs had been in the playoffs just once over the previous five seasons, and that first year finished dead-last in the league at 22-45-4. But they haven't missed the postseason since.

The rebuild led to a Stanley Cup, two President's Cups and four division titles. Since 2018-19, Colorado's worst season still resulted in a .622 winning percentage, when it went 49-29 with four OT losses, good enough for 102 points. It was last year. The Predators answered by dominating the 2025-26 regular season by tallying 121 points by finishing 55-16-11.

MacFarland had taken over as general manager after Sakic was promoted to the role of president of hockey operations in 2022, after the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in six games over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

So that's 11 years in a really good organization, with a franchise that went from the bottom of the league to the top, plus he had to deal with things like captain Gabriel Landeskog missing essentially three straight seasons due to a knee issue. Meanwhile, his standing around the league only grew, thanks to a nearly flawless track record.

Along the way, MacFarland showed that he knows how to work a salary cap to its limit, understands the importance of developing prospects, and gets the kind of talent that will make the franchise players even better. He asks questions within the organization and listens to the answers. It'll be interesting to see how many people from the Avalanche try and follow him to Nashville, that's the kind of respect he held in Colorado.

Jared Bednar talking about Chris MacFarland Being a Finalist for GM of the Year: "No one is gonna outwork him, no one is gonna watch more games..."

MacFarland: "Easy, easy"#GoAvsGo | @TheRamosLawFirm pic.twitter.com/dyrUhiSirk

— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports) May 19, 2026

Moreover, McFarland isn't afraid to make a deal, whether it's swapping a goaltender like Justus Annunen for Scott Wedgewood for a little more stability in the crease two years ago, or make a major move like sending Mikko Rantanen to Carolina in the massive three-team trade that brought forwards Jack Drury and Martin Necas to Colorado along with a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a fourth-round selection in this year's draft.

This past season on the trade deadline he rolled the dice and re-acquired Nazem Kadri in a move to try and put the Avalanche over the top. Colorado gave up a lot for the center (including Victor Olofsson, Maxmilian Curran, a conditional 2028 first-round pick and a conditional 2027 second-round pick), but no one doubted that MacFarland had put his team in position to make a championship run.

It should also be noted that even after becoming the general manager in Colorado he didn't make a move at head coach as Jared Bednar has the second-longest tenure in the league dating back to 2016 (trailing Jon Cooper in Tampa Bay, 2013). Maybe that wasn't his decision, however MacFarland doesn't appear to be the kind of GM to make knee-jerk reactions or overreact.

The point is that you look at all these things and some desirable traits that all teams should really want from the person at the helm start to come to mind: smart, tough, driven, poised, experienced, bold, steady, versatile, patient, and so on. They're all contributing factors as to why MacFarland has such an impressive reputation, and why the talk of the league during the hours prior to Game 1 was about how Nashville made yet another really good front-office move.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨

The guys react in real time as news breaks that Chris MacFarland is headed to Nashville. pic.twitter.com/Vy05jEq6Dp

— PuckAroundPod (@ThePuckAround) June 2, 2026

Granted, the other big one was a long time ago as MacFarland is just the third general manager in Predators history. The first was David Poile, who ran the organization through the 2022-23 season, and transformed an expansion team into a franchise that made the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, in addition to 14 playoff appearances. Coupled with his 15 years with the Washington Capitals and other contributions like with USA Hockey and Poile's already in the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builder's category.

In between was Barry Trotz, of course, who had followed Poile from Washington to be the franchise's first head coach and stayed for 15 seasons, and eventually replaced him as general manager in 2023. Nashville hasn't made the playoffs the past two seasons, and three of the last four, but while it's easy to say the window of opportunity is closing on its core veterans the Predators have been restocking.

The next wave of players has already started to arrive and make its mark with the likes of Luke Evangelista, Matthew Wood and Brady Martin. Right behind them could be Tanner Molendyk, Cameron Reid, Ryker Lee, Yegor Surin and Jack Ivankovic. Moreover, the Predators have 12 draft picks this year, including the No. 10-overall selection and two picks in each of the the subsequent three rounds. They also have 12 selections in 2027 and nine in 2028.

That's a lot of draft stock for MacFarland to play with, along with roughly $30 million in cap space heading into free agency, and a team that was just four points out of the 2026 playoffs. It's almost like the equivalent of a perfect (ice) storm.

This isn't to say that MacFarland won't have tough decisions to make, he will, yet all the pieces are there for him to succeed. That may have been the key to his leaving what appeared to be a sure thing with the Avalanche — in addition to the bigger role and bigger paycheck, of course. Consequently, this franchise didn't just get the guy it wanted, but the ideal candidate for what it needed at the right time.

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