All 3 NHL’s General Manager of the Year Award finalists are still in the postseason

The NHL continues to announce finalists for the end-of-year awards. Now, it is known that Jim Nill will not be winning the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award for a fourth straight season.

The NHL has announced the three finalists for the Jim Gregory Award, according to a release from the league.

Bill Guerin of the Minnesota Wild, Chris MacFarland of the Colorado Avalanche, and Pat Verbeek of the Anaheim Ducks have been named the finalists for the Jim Gregory Award. The award, named after the former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and director of central scouting for the NHL, has been given annually to the top NHL GM as voted on by a group of all 32 GMs, five NHL executives, and five more media members. The award was first given after the 2009-10 season, when Don Maloney of the Phoenix Coyotes won the award.

For the past three seasons, Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars has won the award. Doug Armstrong, Steve Yzerman, and Don Sweeney are the only other current general managers who have won the award in the past.

Guerin played in the NHL from 1991 through the end of the 2009-10 season, playing for eight different franchises and winning the Stanley Cup twice. He would join the front office of the Pittsburgh Penguins following his retirement, becoming the assistant general manager of the Penguins in 2014. He won the Cup twice with the Pens before being named the GM of the Wild in 2019. This is his first time being nominated for the award.

MacFarland is also being nominated for the first time. He joined his first NHL front office in 1999-2000 with the Columbus Blue Jackets, moving up the chain to become an assistant general manager. He then joined the Colorado Avalanche as an assistant general manager under Joe Sakic, and was part of the front office when the team won the Cup in 2022. He assumed the GM role in Colorado after the Cup run in 2022.

Verbeek rounds out the finalists and is also a first-time finalist. He played in the NHL from 1982 through the 2001-02 season, playing with five different franchises. He won the Stanley Cup as a player in 1999 with the Stars, and is the only player in NHL history to have 500 goals and 2,500 penalty minutes in his career. His first front office job came with the Detroit Red Wings when he was hired by former teammate Steve Yzerman. He became the GM of the Ducks in 2022.

All three GMs have their teams still in the playoffs, with Guerin and MacFarland seeing their teams face each other in the second round.

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