Nashville,\u00a0Tenn. (June 2, 2026) \u2013\u00a0Nashville Predators\u00a0Chairman and Majority Owner Bill Haslam announced today that\u00a0Chris MacFarland\u00a0has been hired\u00a0as\u00a0President of Hockey Operations\/General Manager.\u00a0MacFarland\u00a0replaces Barry Trotz, who\u00a0transitions\u00a0into an advisory role\u00a0within\u00a0the organization\u00a0after announcing in February his intention to retire as\u00a0general manager\u00a0once his successor was identified.\u00a0MacFarland becomes the third GM in Predators history and the second to hold the president of hockey operations title.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could not be more pleased that Chris has elected to join the Predators organization and lead our hockey operations group,\u201d Haslam said. \u201cWe conducted an exhaustive search and were able to meet with several very qualified and impressive candidates, but all along, we were hopeful to interview Chris. He turned out to be a perfect fit for us \u2013 just what we were looking for to lead our organization moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to thank the Colorado Avalanche,\u00a0the Kroenke family\u00a0and Joe Sakic\u00a0for giving Chris permission to talk with us and for supporting his desire to make this move. I\u2019d also like to thank the members of our search committee, those who expressed interest in joining the Predators in this role, and especially Barry Trotz for his work in positioning Chris for success. We appreciate everyone\u2019s time and effort in this endeavor.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacFarland, 56 (3\/28\/70),\u00a0joins the Predators organization\u00a0after spending the previous 11 seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, including the past four as general manager.\u00a0He worked with\u00a0Sakic, the\u00a0Avalanche\u2019s\u00a0president of\u00a0hockey\u00a0operations and Hockey Hall of Famer,\u00a0to build the 2022 Stanley Cup championship team; Colorado has also made the playoffs in nine straight campaigns \u2013 tied for the longest active streak in the NHL \u2013 reaching the Western Conference Final this postseason. During his four-season tenure as Avalanche GM, which began in July 2022, Colorado won the Presidents\u2019 Trophy in 2025-26, earned two Central Division titles, led the\u00a0NHL in wins (205), scored the second-most goals per game (3.50) and allowed the fourth-fewest goals-against per game (2.75).<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife Chandra and I, together with our children, are grateful to Bill and Crissy Haslam and the entire Nashville Predators family for this opportunity,\u201d MacFarland said. \u201cWe also thank everyone at the Avalanche, including Joe Sakic and the Kroenke family, for their support in pursuing this position with the Predators; I believe Nashville will be a great fit for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know this is a proud organization with a solid track record of putting together teams that the fans of Smashville support wholeheartedly. My goal here is to build a winner, working with Bill Haslam, Sean Henry and our hockey operations staff and players to put a team on the ice that will compete for the Stanley Cup. I am excited about our future.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacFarland earned his first career nod as\u00a0a finalist for the\u00a0Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award\u00a0on May 12\u00a0after assembling an Avalanche squad that, in 2025-26,\u00a0led the NHL in points with\u00a0a franchise-record\u00a0121 (55-16-11 record)\u00a0and\u00a0reached the Western Conference Final.\u00a0Building\u00a0around a core featuring 2024 Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon and two-time Norris Trophy recipient Cale Makar, he signed veteran defenseman Brent Burns in the offseason and inked center Brock Nelson to a three-year contract after acquiring him at the trade deadline the previous campaign. MacFarland then added to his roster, landing forwards Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy and defensemen Brett Kulak and Nick Blankenburg prior to the 2026\u00a0trade\u00a0deadline. Consistently seeking to add to the organization\u2019s depth at all positions, the 2025-26 version of the Avalanche saw 15 different players record at least 20 points \u2013 tied for the most among all NHL teams \u2013 and 11 different skaters score at least 10 goals.<\/p>\n
MacFarland was initially hired by Colorado as an assistant\u00a0general manager\u00a0under Sakic\u00a0in May 2015 and played a pivotal role in transforming the\u00a0franchise\u00a0into a perennial Stanley Cup contender\u00a0over the past 11 years. After finishing last in the NHL in 2016-17, he helped guide Colorado to a Presidents\u2019 Trophy in 2020-21 and the Stanley Cup the following season.\u00a0The\u00a0Avalanche used the draft to surround MacKinnon and captain Gabriel Landeskog with additional NHL All-Stars such as Mikko Rantanen (10th overall in 2015) and Makar (fourth overall in 2017)\u00a0and blueliner Bowen Byram (fourth overall in 2019).\u00a0MacFarland\u00a0was part of\u00a0Sakic\u2019s\u00a0management group that\u00a0landed\u00a0forward Artturi\u00a0Lehkonen\u00a0and defenseman Devon Toews in trades and signed forward Valeri Nichushkin in free agency; all three won the Cup in 2022\u00a0on a roster that featured\u00a020\u00a0players\u00a0skate in postseason games after being\u00a0acquired\u00a0with MacFarland in the organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we considered the leader of our hockey future with the search committee, Chris\u2019 name continued to rise to the top as a candidate we\u2019d really like to focus on if we could,\u201d Predators CEO Sean Henry said. \u201cHis background in Colorado, coupled with his extensive experience, makes him the perfect leader to propel our organization to new heights. He is a proven builder and winner and respected throughout the NHL. We extend a warm welcome to him in\u00a0Smashville!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As\u00a0general manager\u00a0of the Avalanche, MacFarland was\u00a0aggressive\u00a0in the trade market,\u00a0further\u00a0bolstering his team\u2019s roster\u00a0while also leading\u00a0contract negotiations with several of the franchise\u2019s cornerstone players. In addition to acquiring Nelson, Kadri and goaltenders Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood, MacFarland also executed one of the largest trades in recent NHL history, adding Martin Necas and Jack Drury from Carolina in exchange for Rantanen, among other pieces, in January 2025.\u00a0He also set Colorado up for\u00a0long-term\u00a0success by signing MacKinnon, Toews, Necas, Nelson, Nichushkin,\u00a0Lehkonen\u00a0and Blackwood \u2013 along with others on the Avalanche roster \u2013 to significant multi-year contracts while GM.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prior to his time in Colorado, MacFarland spent 16 years (1999-15)\u00a0in the Columbus Blue Jackets\u2019 hockey operations department,\u00a0working his way from manager of hockey operations to assistant general manager.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Nanuet, N.Y., native\u00a0played collegiate hockey at Pace University, where he earned a business degree in 1992 and graduated from its law school in 1998. His stops prior to joining the Blue Jackets included\u00a0a spell\u00a0as an intern for the NHL\u2019s office in New York and with NHL Productions. He\u00a0additionally serves on the USA Hockey Men\u2019s National Team Advisory Group alongside several other American-born NHL general managers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MacFarland and his wife, Chandra, have\u00a0four children \u2013 sons Jake, Gavin and Sawyer, and a daughter, Cara.<\/p>\n
As MacFarland assumes control of the Predators\u2019 hockey operations department, Trotz transitions into an advisory role following a three-season tenure as the team\u2019s general manager. Trotz modernized the franchise\u2019s hockey operations department while creating organizational depth, one of the NHL\u2019s top prospect pools and holding 33 selections over the next three NHL Drafts. Perhaps the most recognizable figure in Nashville\u2019s hockey history,\u00a0Trotz spent 15 seasons as the\u00a0Predators\u2019 first-ever\u00a0head coach (1998-14)\u00a0and\u00a0is fifth in NHL history in games coached (1,812) and wins (914).<\/p>\n
\u201cI am pleased to welcome \u2018C-Mac\u2019 to the Predators organization, and I pledge to help him\u00a0fulfill his vision in any way that I can for the next year,\u201d Trotz said. \u201cChris is a great competitor and one of the best in the business \u2013 I know he is going to do an excellent job leading our hockey operations group, and I look forward to assisting him as we move forward. Since making my announcement this past February, I have been working with a focus on turning the team over to our new general manager in the best possible position to achieve success, and I am confident that Chris has the tools necessary to build a winner here in Nashville.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Predators\u2019 hockey operations department \u2013 now led by MacFarland \u2013 remains focused on the upcoming key dates on the NHL\u2019s calendar, including the 2026 NHL Scouting Combine (June 1-6 in Buffalo); 2026 NHL Draft (June 26-27 in Buffalo); Nashville\u2019s annual development camp (June 28-July 3); and the start of free agency (July 1).<\/p>\n
Become Smashville Loyal today! Full, Half and Quarter Season Ticket plans are available for the 2026-27 Nashville Predators season presented by Regions Bank. For more information, please call 615-770-7800, visit\u00a0NashvillePredators.com<\/a>\u00a0or text PREDS to 833-453-2488 to begin receiving ticket offers directly to your phone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nashville,\u00a0Tenn. (June 2, 2026) \u2013\u00a0Nashville Predators\u00a0Chairman and Majority Owner Bill Haslam announced today that\u00a0Chris MacFarland\u00a0has been hired\u00a0as\u00a0President of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-680344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}