Joe Sakic Deserves More Credit for Masterful Handling of the Avalanche – The Hockey Writers – Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche may have had a disappointing end to their 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff run, but the situation is far from doom and gloom. Despite several changes, they remain the team to beat in the Western Conference.

How they got here is largely because of the work put in by on-ice-legend-turned-executive Joe Sakic. Legendary players often struggle to find their way as general managers, but Sakic has done a masterful job of building the Avalanche into perennial contenders.

Sakic Added Cap Flexibility

As a contending team, the salary cap is their biggest obstacle. Bringing good players into the fold is tough enough; retaining them at a rate that doesn’t destroy their flexibility or level of competition is a different thing, and when you have the best of the best, retaining them means 15% of your salary cap goes to one player.

Sakic has managed to give the team financial flexibility without making the roster worse. Dealing power forward Valeri Nichushkin in June might have hurt on the surface, but it gives the Avalanche flexibility in their lineup. The same can be said for trading Ross Colton to the Nashville Predators in June.

Part of being a shrewd executive is knowing when to move on from certain players. Nichushkin and Colton were traded for picks, fourth-line depth, and cap space, which gives the Avalanche the breathing room they need to make other moves down the line. It can be the difference between landing a big fish at the trade deadline and wondering what else could have been done.

Sakic Built the Championship Core

Sakic has been a key figure in bringing the team out of the dark era of the early 2010s and into their prolonged championship window. Whether as general manager or as president of hockey operations, his fingerprints are all over the team.

He was general manager when the team drafted all-world defenseman Cale Makar. He made trades for Devon Toews, Artturi Lehkonen, Nazem Kadri, and signed Nichushkin. He won the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award after the Avalanche captured their third Stanley Cup in 2022.

Nearly all of that core remains in place and effective. Nathan MacKinnon continues to dominate, as does Makar. The Avalanche have one of the best goaltending tandems in the league. From the net out, they have no glaring weaknesses and much of that is thanks to Sakic’s leadership.

Sakic Finds Depth Value

It should be easy to contend with arguably the best player (MacKinnon) and defenseman (Makar) on the planet. That said, Sakic has had a hand in building up the team’s impressive depth. Even before he started making moves, the Avalanche had what was considered to be one of the best middle-six groups in the NHL.

Jaden Schwartz is one of the best value players in the league. The tandem of Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux provides physical, defensively responsible depth at a fraction of the cost that retaining Jack Drury would have required. It also gives the team options at center and where to play Kadri and Nicolas Roy to maximize their effectiveness.

Avalanche Will Be Contenders for the Foreseeable Future

While former general manager Chris MacFarland deserves his share of the credit, the past 12 years have been – in one form or another – under the watchful eye of Sakic. Under his leadership, they have become one of the winningest franchises in hockey, with a Stanley Cup to show for it.

Based on the roster he has constructed, it would be shocking if the Avalanche don’t add another championship within the next few seasons. Should that happen, Sakic will not only be a Hall of Fame player, but a Hall of Fame executive as well.