Joe Sakic named Colorado Avalanche president of hockey operations, Chris MacFarland named new GM

Joe Sakic is transitioning from his role as general manager and into a new position as president of hockey operations with the Colorado Avalanche, the NHL team reported on its website Monday morning.

In the same announcement, the team confirmed Assistant General Manager Chris MacFarland has also been promoted and named the new Avs general manager.

According to Sakic, the move has been in the works for a while. MacFarland has Assistant General Manager for the past seven seasons and was getting several interviews on opportunities to be a general manager elsewhere.

So the Avs made this move in order to keep him in house.

"It was an easy decision. Why let someone who you trust so much, who has worked so hard and is dedicated to help create this thing? Why let there be an opportunity for him to go somewhere else, and then you're looking for a replacement when we had the perfect candidate right here all along?" asked Sakic.

RELATED: Joe Sakic named 'GM of the Year' at day 1 of NHL Draft in Montreal 

This serves as a significant move for the team following its third Stanley Cup victory in franchise history, as well as Sakic being named the 2022 NHL GM of the year among many other team accolades for the Avs as a whole.

The Avs website did not confirm immediately in its article how and when roles will shift for the upcoming NHL season. But in general, a president of hockey operations serves in an executive advisory role, as the general manager continues to serve as the immediate supervisor and decision maker for player personnel.