Nathan MacKinnon and Jared Bednar just got caught in a growing Colorado controversy
Nathan MacKinnon and Jared Bednar now sit in the middle of a Colorado shakeup after Chris MacFarland got permission to interview with Nashville.
That is not a small front-office note.
When a sitting general manager gets linked to another organization right after a President's Trophy season ended without a Stanley Cup Final trip, people start connecting dots fast.
And in Colorado, those dots lead everywhere.
MacFarland is not some side executive in this setup. He has been part of the leadership group with Joe Sakic and Bednar during one of the strongest runs in franchise history.
That is why this matters.
The report says Nashville has permission to talk to MacFarland, but the big question is what the actual title, role, and offer would be. That part tells you this is not just a routine courtesy call.
If the role is bigger, Colorado has a real problem.
Because once you start pulling on one thread in a contender's structure, the rest can move too. And there is already chatter that if MacFarland leaves, Bednar's future could get dragged back into the conversation as well.
A lateral move is unlikely to result in a zip code change for MacFarland, who was promoted to his current position in July 2022. He was elevated to that role when Colorado desired to keep him instead of allowing him to interview for Anaheim's then-vacant GM position, eventually hiring Pat Verbeek.
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Colorado may be looking at more than one summer decision
That is the real tension here.
The Avalanche just finished as the league's best regular-season team, then stalled out again before the Cup Final. That kind of ending already puts pressure on the people at the top.
Now one of those people might have an exit path.
Sakic still feels untouchable in Colorado. He is too tied to the organization, too decorated, and too central to what this era became. But MacFarland leaving would still hit hard because he has been one of the men helping steer the win-now pushes since taking over as general manager in 2022.
That is where Bednar comes in.
He remains one of the most respected coaches in the league, but every disappointing playoff exit keeps reopening the same debate. Has Colorado stayed too loyal to a formula that wins big from October to April, then slips when the series tighten up?
This MacFarland story makes that question louder.
Not because Bednar is suddenly done.
Because any front-office shift creates room for more change.
And the Avalanche are at the point where even successful years get judged by what did not happen in May.
That is what makes this big.
Colorado did not just lose in the West.
It may now be facing a structural decision that touches the front office, the bench, and the direction of the next push around MacKinnon.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 29, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Taylor Hall | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jackson Blake | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexander Nikishin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Phillip Danault | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||