DENVER (KDVR) — There’s more hardware coming to Colorado after Joe Sakic was named the NHL General Manager of the year.
Sakic became the Avalanche general manager in 2013 and, despite the team bottoming out in the 2016-2017 season, he has had an overall positive impact. The Avs have made the playoffs for the last five seasons.
As all Colorado fans know, this season ended with the Avs lifting the Stanley Cup and celebrating with a parade and rally through downtown Denver.
Sakic made several big moves in the past year, including signing goalie Darcy Kuemper who had 37 wins and 12 losses between the pipes in the championship run.
Now the pressure is on for Sakic to do it again, but this offseason will be tough with Kuemper, Nazem Kadri and Valeri Nichushkin all unrestricted free agents.
It seems Sakic and the Avs will likely move on from Kuemper as they traded several draft picks to the New York Rangers for goalie Alexandar Georgiev.