MANALAPAN, Fla. -- Chris MacFarland walks into the lobby of the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa for an interview Monday wearing a Colorado Avalanche long sleeve quarter-zip, collar up covering his neck, pants, not shorts, and a hat.
It's a steamy South Florida afternoon. Sure, he's inside, in the comfort of the air conditioning, and although he's not giving off the impression, MacFarland, Colorado's general manager, might still be hot.
If so, he's right on par with his team.
The Avalanche are the hottest team in the NHL, winners of seven in a row and nine of 10, including 4-3 against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Tuesday behind a hat trick from Mikko Rantanen and Justus Annunen's 30 saves, completing a sweep of a four-game road trip.
Colorado (44-20-5) has 93 points in 69 games, tied for first in the Central Division with the Winnipeg Jets, who have a game in hand. They have two more points than the Dallas Stars, who have also played 69 games.
"It's crazy," MacFarland said. "I think it's going right to the wire."
The Avalanche will be right there, helped by the moves MacFarland made before the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline on March 8.
Colorado acquired defenseman Sean Walker from the Philadelphia Flyers, center Casey Mittelstadt from the Buffalo Sabres, and forwards Brandon Duhaime from the Minnesota Wild and Yakov Trenin from the Nashville Predators. It traded defenseman Bowen Byram to Buffalo for Mittelstadt.
MacFarland, in his Avalanche quarter-zip, sat with NHL.com after Day One of the NHL General Managers meetings here to talk about the reasoning behind some of the trades, the impact he has seen from them, why they didn't add a veteran backup goalie, and much more.