NEW YORK (May 23, 2024) – Patrik Allvin of the Vancouver Canucks, Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers are the three finalists for the 2023-24 Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, the National Hockey League announced today.

Voting for this award was conducted among the NHL general managers and a panel of League executives, print and broadcast media at the conclusion of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The winner will be announced by national rightsholders ESPN, Sportsnet and TVA Sports during pregame programming ahead of the Stanley Cup Final game on Monday, June 10.

Following are the finalists for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, in alphabetical order:

Patrik Allvin, Vancouver Canucks

Allvin oversaw a Canucks team that captured the Pacific Division title and No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with the third-highest point total in franchise history (50-23-9, 109 pts). Their 26-point improvement over 2022-23 was the NHL’s biggest by a wide margin. A key factor in the turnaround was the hiring in January 2023 of Rick Tocchet, who in his first full season with the club won the 2023-24 Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top head coach. Allvin bolstered Tocchet’s roster with several moves, including summer free agents C Teddy Blueger, D Ian Cole, D Carson Soucy and C Pius Suter, plus in-season trade acquisitions C Elias Lindholm, D Nikita Zadorov and C Sam Lafferty. Allvin, a first-time Jim Gregory finalist, is in contention to become the second Canucks GM to win the award, following Mike Gillis in 2010-11, and looks to follow current Vancouver president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford to the winner’s podium. Rutherford claimed GM of the Year honors with Pittsburgh in 2015-16.

Jim Nill, Dallas Stars

Nill’s Stars (52-21-9) led the Western Conference with 113 points, their highest total since the Stanley Cup-winning 1998-99 squad (114), and have advanced to the Western Conference Final for the third time in five seasons. Dallas’ top three scorers and starting goaltender during this year’s playoff run are among the eight Nill draft picks on the playoff roster (min. 1 GP): D Miko Heiskanen, LW Jason Robertson and G Jake Oettinger were selected in 2017, plus C Wyatt Johnston in 2021. Nill added to the team that reached the Western Conference Final last year by signing C Matt Duchene, C Craig Smith and C Sam Steel during the offseason and acquiring D Chris Tanev near the trade deadline. Nill, in his 11th season as Stars GM, is a Jim Gregory finalist for a record fourth time. He won the trophy for the first time in 2022-23 and is vying to join Lou Lamoriello (2019-20 and 2020-21) as the only GM to capture the award in consecutive seasons.

Bill Zito, Florida Panthers

Under Zito, the Panthers (52-24-6) recorded the second-highest regular-season point total in franchise history (110) and have advanced to the Eastern Conference Final in consecutive years for the first time ever. Building on the success of his 2021‑22 team, which captured the Presidents’ Trophy with a franchise-record 58 wins, and the 2022-23 squad, which advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, Zito added several key pieces in the offseason, acquiring D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D Dmitry Kulikov, D Niko Mikkola, C Steven Lorentz, C Kevin Stenlund and G Anthony Stolarz. He later added RW Vladimir Tarasenko and RW Kyle Okposo leading up to the trade deadline. Zito is a three-time finalist for the award, joining Nill (4), Marc Bergevin (3), Bob Murray (3), David Poile (3) and Steve Yzerman (3). Zito is the first of the group to garner three finalist berths in his first four NHL seasons.

History

The NHL General Manager of the Year Award first was presented in 2009-10. It was renamed in 2019-20 in honor of Jim Gregory, the 2007 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee who served as Toronto Maple Leafs general manager and a League executive for four decades.

Winners Announcement Schedule

The NHL is announcing its 2023-24 trophy winners during pregame programming ahead of Stanley Cup Playoff games on national rightsholders ESPN, Sportsnet and TVA Sports; at the 2024 NHL Awards show at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas on June 27 and at the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft in Las Vegas on June 28. ESPN’s announcements are being made on its studio show The Point leading into its game coverage.