DENVER (AP) — Joe Sakic wasn’t content to simply run it back. Far from it, even if the Colorado Avalanche did have the best record in the regular season.“Super Joe,” his nickname as a Hall of Fame player, has certainly lived up to his reputation of “Trader Joe” since stepping back into his role of GM for the Avalanche. He already has orchestrated several deals in this young offseason.Because if there’s one thing Sakic knows all about, it’s championship windows. His squad, back in the day, won a pair of Stanley Cup trophies in 1996 and 2001.The Avalanche are in the midst of another window with Nathan MacKinnon, captain Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar leading the way (they won in 2022). Sakic is giving the team a mini-reboot after the Avalanche were swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.“There’s always changes, but we have the core guys here,” Sakic said recently. “We have a nucleus. We’re a deep team. ... It’s a great group. They care about each other. They want to win. They’re very competitive. They’re disappointed, but their expectations are to try and come back and try and compete and win a Stanley Cup.”
Sakic inherited the GM job again — on top of his responsibilities as president of hockey operations — when Chris MacFarland recently left for the front office of the Nashville Predators.
