MacFarland commits – Chris MacFarland was introduced as the Nashville Predators’ president of hockey operations/general manager on Wednesday, thanking Joe Sakic and the Colorado Avalanche before laying out a clear objective: build a team meant to compete for the Stanley Cup. He in
When Chris MacFarland walked into his introductory news conference in Nashville on Wednesday, the first thing he did wasn’t talk about roster construction or the draft.
He looked back. He thanked his old boss, Joe Sakic, and the Colorado Avalanche for giving him a chance—11 seasons with the franchise, including the past four as general manager.
Then he turned forward. The job waiting for him is one with built-in tension: turning the Predators into a perennial Cup contender after missing the post-season in three of the past four seasons. MacFarland called Nashville a team that may be stuck in the “mushy middle”—not bad enough to land a true top draft pick. but not quite elite enough to threaten for a title.
It was the way the organization answered the question of what “winning” actually means that pushed him to take the leap.
“Because it was going to take a hell of an opportunity and situation to get me to think about leaving Colorado. ” MacFarland said. “I said, ‘Mr. Haslam. is the goal here to make the playoffs. make the wild card. feel good about that and high-five each other?. Or is the goal here to build a team that can compete and try to bring a Stanley Cup to Broadway?’”.
He said Bill Haslam didn’t hesitate.
“He didn’t hesitate. The goal here is to try and win. That’s really, quite honestly, all I needed to hear.”
MacFarland is stepping into a role that belonged to Barry Trotz, who will take an advisory role with the organization after retiring from the GM position earlier this season.
The Predators’ new leader arrives with momentum—he was a hot commodity after helping assemble the Avalanche team that posted the NHL’s best record. Colorado’s run ended in the Western Conference Final, where it was swept by the Vegas Golden Knights. MacFarland also helped put himself in the conversation for the NHL’s top front-office award. as he is a finalist for general manager of the year.
Still, he didn’t rush the timeline for how fast Nashville can change.
“It’s a fair question,” MacFarland said. “I’m going to need time to poke around under the hood here and to truly get a feel for that.”
His immediate plan is to meet with his coaching staff—including head coach Andrew Brunette—and with the scouts. Nashville also has the No. 10 pick, and MacFarland pointed to how that slot can matter. With the 10th pick in 2015, the Avalanche selected Mikko Rantanen.
MacFarland also referenced the path that player eventually took through trades—Rantanen was dealt to Carolina in January 2025 as part of a deal for Martin Necas, and later traded again to Dallas.
“We all know how good he is,” MacFarland said. “You’ve just got to keep building good player upon good player and putting them in good situations.”
While Nashville’s fan base will always dream about acquiring a franchise forward, MacFarland tempered expectations about the shortcut.
“Those guys usually aren’t traded, right?” he said. “You usually have to go through some pain to get those guys in the draft and the acquisition cost on those types of guys in the marketplace is astronomical.”
But he didn’t pretend the dream wasn’t worth chasing. A Nathan MacKinnon-type scorer would be useful—he simply said the league makes those players hard to reach.
“We will leave no stone unturned,” MacFarland said. “We will be ready that if there is an opportunity to strike from the outside, we’ll have done the work. … But those guys (a MacKinnon type) are hard to get and hard to acquire.”
The search also carried a familiar voice from outside the hockey pipeline. Predators chairman and majority owner Bill Haslam and CEO Sean Henry credited Nick Saban—college football Hall of Fame coach and a Predators minority owner—as playing a role in recruiting MacFarland to Nashville. Henry said Saban’s evaluation approach shaped how the organization interviewed.
“The way he evaluates things, it changes the entire interview process for us,” Henry said. “There are times where we’re looking at him saying, ‘Oh I wish I asked that.’ Or, ‘I wish I saw it that way.’ … It was incredible.”
By the time the conference wrapped, Nashville’s game-day culture made its way into the moment too. MacFarland had players from the organization on hand—Filip Forsberg and Nicolas Hague were among those in attendance—and he mentioned another adjustment waiting for him at the arena: the “Fang Fingers. ” a gesture Predators faithful make during games.
“When I came in here with the Avs or the Blue Jackets, that thing drove me nuts,” MacFarland cracked. “Because it usually meant something bad might be happening with the likes of Shea Weber and P.K. Subban and some of those guys.”
He said the message, to him, would be different once he’s on the other side.
“No matter what the record is, we are going to do things first class and we are going to build something special incrementally — small step by small step. Sometimes that takes time.”
Nashville Predators Chris MacFarland Barry Trotz Joe Sakic Bill Haslam Sean Henry Andrew Brunette Mikko Rantanen Martin Necas Nathan MacKinnon Filip Forsberg Nicolas Hague Vegas Golden Knights