The night was already memorable for Executive Vice President, General Manager and Alternate Governor Joe Sakic as it was his 53rd birthday and he was congratulated by colleagues, coaches, players and fans after helping construct Colorado's 2021-22 Stanley Cup winning squad to claim the third Cup in franchise history. In between picks 16 and 17 of the first round, it was announced that Sakic was named the 2021-22 recipient of the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, which was conducted among NHL Club General Managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media at the conclusion of the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"It's a huge honor," Sakic said on Thursday night. "The Jim Gregory Award is a huge honor. I know it's a team award. We have a great staff. Chris McFarland is huge on this with me, we do everything together. Our scouts; everyone one of them pro and amateur. It's the team and the players, they were so committed. It's the coaching staff. It's not an individual award. It's an organizational award."
During the afternoon prior to Thursday night, the team announced that it had acquired goaltender Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers in exchange for Colorado's third-round and fifth-round selections in the 2022 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
And after trading their second rounder to the New York Islanders back in the fall of 2020 in exchange for defenseman Devon Toews, the Avalanche did not have picks for the 2022 NHL Draft until the sixth and seventh rounds, which takes place on Friday night.
