Joe Sakic backs Avs coach Jared Bednar, plans to run it back again with core led by Nathan MacKinnon

Joe Sakic trusts his core group of players. The Colorado Avalanche president of hockey operations — and now de facto general manager — plans to run it back next season behind a group that includes Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and captain Gabriel Landeskog. Sakic prefers to focus on a regular season that produced a franchise-most 121 points — and the Presidents' Trophy — over one bad week of hockey in which the Avalanche were swept by Vegas in the Western Conference Final.