Legendary Avalanche center Joe Sakic takes the credit for the club’s elite standing in the NHL. He’s the general manager after all.
He unquestionably has a great sidekick in Chris MacFarland, as well as the rest of the front-office staff, including professional and amateur scouts. Collectively they have done a remarkable job of creating the current 23-man roster from eight trades, seven draft picks, seven free agents, and one waiver-wire addition.
They have hit on far more moves than the ones that didn’t work out ever since striking it rich on Nov. 5, 2017, when they sent disgruntled center Matt Duchene to Ottawa in a seven-player return that included Sam Girard from Nashville and the rights to select Bo Byram No.