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Former Avalanche captain Joe Sakic completed his eighth season as Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations in 2020-21, his 10th year overall in the organization's front office. He was named to his current position on May 10, 2013.

Prior to assuming his present role, Sakic, 51, spent two years as the club's Executive Advisor/Alternate Governor, a position he was hired for on March 25, 2011.

The Avs have qualified for the playoffs in each of the last four seasons, which ranks as the third-longest run of postseason appearances in franchise history. Colorado has advanced to the second round in each of the past three years, the franchise's longest stretch since a four-year run from 1999-2002.

In 2020-21, the Avalanche finished on top of the NHL standings for the first time since to 2000-01 and won the franchise's third-ever Presidents' Trophy (also 1996-97) and 12th division title (10th since moving to Colorado in 1995-96).

The Avalanche finished second in the Western Conference and tied for third in the NHL with 92 points during the shortened 2019-20 campaign. Colorado's .657 points percentage was its third highest since relocating to Denver, trailing only the 2000-01 team (.720) and the 2013-14 squad (.683).

Sakic and his staff have assembled a core group that is headlined by Nathan MacKinnon, a finalist for the Hart Trophy in two of the last three seasons. The first overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, MacKinnon was the first player selected by Sakic as GM.

MacKinnon, the recipient of the 2020 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, was one of two Avalanche award winners this past season, as Cale Makar captured the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year. Selected fourth overall in the 2017 NHL Draft, Makar was the third Avalanche player to win the Calder since Sakic joined the front office, joining MacKinnon (2014) and Gabriel Landeskog (2012). No team has had as many rookie-of-the-year winners during that span.

One of the organization's priorities heading into last season was to add significant scoring depth. The Avs acquired Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky via trade and signed free agents Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Joonas Donskoi and Valeri Nichushkin. Burakovsky (20 goals), Kadri (19), Donskoi (16) and Nichushkin (13) all finished among the Avalanche's top-seven goal scorers, accounting for 68 (almost 30%) of the club's 236 goals. If you also include Bellemare (nine), those five additions had 77 of the 236 goals (33%).

Burakovsky and Nichushkin were both re-signed for another two years in October.

The club further added to that forward depth this offseason by acquiring two-time Stanley Cup champion Brandon Saad from the Blackhawks. The 28-year-old is coming off his fifth career 20-goal campaign in 2019-20.

Sakic also added to the Avalanche's defense corps this fall by acquiring blueliner Devon Toews from the Islanders. Toews, who has ranked first among Isles defensemen in scoring during each of the last two postseasons, was signed to a four-year contract just a few weeks after his acquisition.

The organization further cemented its blueline by re-signing Ryan Graves to a three-year contract. His deal begins at the same time that Samuel Girard's seven-year contract extension kicks in. Graves, who was acquired from the Rangers during the 2017-18 season, led the NHL with a +40 plus/minus rating in 2019-20. Part of a three-team trade with Nashville and Ottawa in November 2017, Girard currently has a 220 consecutive games-played streak, the third-longest run by a defenseman in franchise history.

Just prior to the start of the 2019-20 season, the Avs locked up another member of its core, signing Mikko Rantanen to a six-year contract through 2024-25. Rantanen was Colorado's first-round choice (10th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft and has the fourth-highest points-per-game average (1.08) of any right wing over the last three seasons.

The Avalanche's goaltending tandem of Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz helped the club finish sixth in team goals-against average (2.69) during the 2019-20 campaign, the first time that Colorado finished among the top 10 in that category since 2002-03. Grubauer was acquired from Washington at the 2018 NHL Draft and was immediately signed to a three-year contract. Francouz, who originally signed with Colorado as a free agent in 2018, was the first Avs netminder to finish in the top 10 in both GAA and save percentage since 2003-04. Francouz was signed to a two-year contract in February.

As Sakic and his staff continue to assemble the current NHL roster, the club is also committed to building for the future as well. The Avalanche organization was tabbed as having the NHL's best farm system by The Hockey News in their 2020 Future Watch issue. Colorado also boasted the NHL's No. 1 prospect, defenseman Bowen Byram, the fourth overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft. Fellow 2019 first rounder, Alex Newhook (16th overall), was No. 13 on the publication's list, as the Avs and Florida Panthers were the only teams to feature two of the top 13 prospects. Newhook, a forward at Boston College, was named the NCAA freshman of the year for 2019-20.

Head coach Jared Bednar, hired in August 2016, is beginning the first year of a two-year contract extension he signed in the summer of 2019. A Jack Adams Award finalist in 2018, Bednar is just the third Avalanche coach since the franchise relocated to lead the club to three straight playoff berths.

In Sakic's first season of overseeing all hockey-related decisions, the Avalanche won the 2013-14 Central Division championship and tied a franchise record with 52 wins. Colorado took home three trophies at the 2014 NHL Awards, tying Boston for the most of any team.

The 2017-18 Avalanche, the NHL's youngest team, enjoyed one of the greatest turnaround seasons in NHL history, as Colorado's 47-point increase from 2016-17 equaled the fourth-highest, year-to-year improvement ever.

A month into that 2017-18 campaign, the Avalanche orchestrated a three-team trade that provided an immediate and long-term impact. Colorado acquired Girard, Vladislav Kamenev and a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft from the Nashville Predators, as well as Shane Bowers, Andrew Hammond, a first-round selection in the 2019 NHL Draft (Byram) and a third-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft (Matthew Stienburg) from the Ottawa Senators. In addition to the first, second and third-round draft picks, the Avalanche added a former first rounder (Bowers) and two former second rounders (Girard, Kamenev).

Sakic announced his retirement from the game of hockey on July 9, 2009, following a career that spanned 20 seasons and 1,378 games with the same organization. He wore the 'C' as team captain for 16 consecutive seasons (17 seasons overall), making him the second-longest serving captain in NHL history. Sakic led the Avalanche to two Stanley Cup titles (1996, 2001), which included the city of Denver's first major professional sports championship in 1996. The Burnaby, B.C., native captured the franchise's first Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2001, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1996, earned the Lester B. Pearson Award (NHLPA MVP) and Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship) in 2001 and was named to the NHL's First All-Star Team on three occasions (2001, 2002 and 2004).

Sakic was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012, his first year of eligibility. The only player who spent his entire career with the Avalanche organization to achieve that honor, Sakic was officially inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, 2012. He was named one of "The 100 Greatest NHL Players" honoring 100 years of NHL hockey in 2017.

Sakic retired as the eighth-highest scorer in NHL history with 1,641 career points. He ranked seventh all-time in both playoff goals (84) and playoff points (188-tied), and still holds the NHL record with eight postseason overtime goals.

Selected by the Quebec Nordiques in the first round (15th overall) of the 1987 Entry Draft, Sakic is the franchise's all-time leader in nearly every statistical category. With Sakic as team captain, the Avalanche/Nordiques captured an NHL-record nine consecutive division championships from 1995 to 2003. In addition to its two Stanley Cup titles, the Avalanche also won two Presidents' Trophies and made six appearances in the Western Conference Finals during that time span.

Sakic's No. 19 jersey was retired by the Avalanche during a pre-game ceremony on Oct. 1, 2009.

Joe and his wife, Debbie, have three children: Mitchell and twins Chase and Kamryn. The Sakics are active with the Food Bank of the Rockies charity, and Joe hosts his own charity golf tournament to benefit the Food Bank every summer in Denver. Sakic was awarded the 2007 NHL Foundation Player Award in recognition of his commitment and service to charities in his community.