Joe Sakic’s time as Avalanche general manager reached its conclusion this summer, and he moved on with a flourish. He hoisted the Stanley Cup in June before being honored as the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award winner at July’s NHL Draft.
While Sakic will remain heavily involved with the team as president of hockey operations, Chris MacFarland is now the general manager. He previously was the team’s assistant GM and someone on whom Sakic leaned heavily.
The transition offers an opportunity to look back at Sakic’s tenure. Let’s look back at every trade he made as general manager, from best to worst. To start, a few parameters:
- Sakic’s final trade as general manager — acquiring Alexandar Georgiev — is not included in these rankings. It’s too early to evaluate that deal.
- Patrick Roy left the team ahead of the 2016-17 season. He was head coach and vice president of hockey operations, so he had input in deals before his departure.
- Deals involving solely draft pick swaps are not included unless one pick involved was a first-round pick.
- Deals involving solely players who never reached the NHL are not included.
- Deals involving Freddie Hamilton are not included because there were two of them and both were inconsequential.
Tier One: Elite moves
1. Nov. 5, 2017
- Avalanche acquire Andrew Hammond, Shane Bowers, 2019 first-round pick (Bowen Byram), 2019 third-round pick (Matthew Stienburg) from Ottawa; Vladislav Kamenev, Samuel Girard, 2018 second-round pick (traded down) from Nashville.
- Predators acquire Kyle Turris from Ottawa
- Senators acquire Matt Duchene from Colorado
There’s a lot to unpack here, but in short, Sakic turned Duchene — a player who had demanded a trade — into a treasure chest that is still giving back to the Avalanche.
Duchene was at one point a core player for Colorado and appeared in two All-Star Games, but Sakic’s return was greater than likely he even could have envisioned. The 2019 first-round pick turned out to be fourth overall, and Colorado nabbed Byram, who might end up being the crown jewel of this deal. The 21-year-old was dynamite in the playoffs, leading all players with a plus-15 postseason rating this year. He had nine assists and led all skaters in 5-on-5 ice time during the Stanley Cup Final. And, again, he’s only 21.
Girard is a top-four defenseman whom Colorado extended long term. He’s an elite skater and an offensive threat, and he was having a solid postseason before breaking his sternum in Game 3 of the second round.
The Avalanche traded the 2018 second-round pick to Pittsburgh and acquired a third-round pick and fifth-round pick in that draft. We’ll lump that transaction in with the Duchene trade. It led to the Avalanche picking Justus Annunen, their top goalie prospect who dressed for postseason games this year, and defenseman Danila Zhuravlyov, who signed this spring. He’s played three KHL seasons, and the team believes he could emerge as a player.
Kamenev played 64 NHL games for Colorado, and Hammond had a .933 save percentage in three 2018 playoff games. Then there is Shane Bowers, once a first-round pick, who was with the Colorado Eagles last year, and Stienburg, who averaged more than a point per game at Cornell this past season.
That’s quite the haul for a player who both wanted out and had only two years left on his deal.
2. Oct. 12, 2020
This has a case as potentially better than the Duchene trade. Toews was playing just over 20 minutes a night with the New York Islanders, who faced a cap crunch, when Sakic jumped in, snagging him for only two second-round picks.
In Colorado, Toews emerged as a premier defenseman in the league. He finished 11th in Norris voting his first year in Denver, establishing himself as a perfect partner for Cale Makar, and was eighth this past season. Analytically, he’s among the top players in the league, and he had 57 points in 66 games this past season. He’s sometimes overshadowed by Makar’s…
Read More: A look back at every trade Joe Sakic made as Avalanche general manager