Chris MacFarland: "We Know Where We Are"
Ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft weekend, new GM Chris MacFarland shared his thoughts on the upcoming draft, Nashville's newest acquisitions, and where he see the franchise right now.
New President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Chris MacFarland shared his early insights into the state of the franchise ahead of this weekend’s 2026 NHL Draft. After just under a month in his new role, MacFarland is getting a clearer picture of where the franchise is and what it will take to get the team back to contention.
“We know where we are. We know what we are right now,” MacFarland said on Thursday.
He is looking for the Predators to make incremental improvements wherever they can.
“There’s different ways to skin the cat,” MacFarland said. “We certainly want to improve in the middle of the ice.”
Nashville’s new boss has wasted little time making moves down the middle. On June 16th, MacFarland traded Magnus Chrona (G), a 2026 third round pick, and a 2027 third round pick to acquire Ross Colton from the Colorado Avalanche. Goaltender Isak Posch also joins the Predators organization as a part of that deal.
“I think Ross has a chance to play a bigger role here,” MacFarland explained.
In his three seasons with the Avs, Colton recorded 42 goals and 93 points. His contract for the 2026-27 season sits at $4 million.
“He’s a hard-nosed competitive winger that can flex and play center,” MacFarland said.
“His utility value here excited our group. We felt for that asset acquisition cost, it just made too much sense to bring in a competitive guy like that with one year left on his deal, who’s 29 years old.”
On Wednesday, MacFarland traded Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux to Colorado in exchange for Jack Drury, Chase Bradley, and a 2029 third round pick.
MacFarland was lavish in his praise when it comes to what Drury can bring to Nashville.
“He’s young. He’s 26 years old. He’s got a lot of hockey in front of him,” MacFarland said.
“He’s an elite two-way defensive center. If he’s not one of the best defensive guys in the league, I don’t know who is.”
MacFarland’s personal experience watching Drury made this an important acquisition for the new GM.
“Having been around him and seeing what he does live and in color, there are things that he will impact that you can’t just put a value on.”
“He is a culture changer. His impact on an organization goes beyond the ice. It’s in the locker room, the impact on the future young Preds.”
MacFarland is paying careful attention to those future young Predators as he looks to move the franchise forward.
“The Brady Martins, the Cam Reids, the Surins, the Nilssons - and, you know, I don’t want to forget other guys - but I think those are the pieces that we’re gonna hopefully build around,” MacFarland said.
“That age bracket will definitely be a focus,” he said.
Adding to that age demographic will likely come via the draft.
“To get good players in that age bracket, it’s usually by the draft or it’s usually you pay a significant price. I think we’re going to be methodical in how we do things.”
“If there’s an opportunity to take a swing, we’ll look at taking it, but I’d be surprised if we were taking a swing at a 30-year-old and paying significant assets.”
MacFarland will be examining the development process for these young prospects within the franchise.
“I think development is going to be a really important part of our organizational puzzle, for lack of a better term. Getting a handle on strength and conditioning programs, development teams, what’s going on in Milwaukee. That’s going to be a big focus for us as a management team…for the foreseeable future.”
MacFarland is concentrating on incremental improvements, and that begins Friday evening with the NHL Draft. The Predators have the tenth overall pick and eleven picks across all rounds. MacFarland has been busy preparing.
“Obviously, in my time in Colorado we didn’t have a lot of picks at the top part of the draft, so my last few weeks have been a lot of video, a lot of getting to know guys at the top of the draft,” MacFarland shared.
MacFarland has also been talking to the other GMs ahead of the draft. Despite the activity that has already taken place with top ten picks exchanging hands in deals ahead of Friday’s first round, MacFarland expects Nashville to stick with the tenth overall pick - as of now.
“Right now, the expectation for me would be to make a pick at ten.”
“We’re excited about pick ten, and hopefully we’ll grab a good one at ten.”
The NHL Draft kicks off with the first round selections Friday at 6:00 pm CT. Rounds two through seven will take place on Saturday beginning at 10:00 am CT.