The National Hockey League (NHL) has announced the finalists for the Jim Gregory general Manager of the Year Award.Kevin Cheveldayoff of the Winnipeg Jets, Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars, and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers are in contention for the honor.

This annual award, first presented in 2009-10, recognizes the general manager who demonstrated extraordinary performance throughout the regular season. The selection process involves voting by the League’s general managers, a panel of NHL executives, and members of the print and broadcast media, which takes place after the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Kevin Cheveldayoff, in his 14th season as the Jets’ GM, steered Winnipeg to a Central Division title and the Presidents’ Trophy, boasting the best regular-season record at 56-22-4. He has been in his current role as the team’s relocation from Atlanta before the 2011-12 season, guiding the jets to the postseason in seven of the past eight seasons.

Despite minimal offseason acquisitions and the departure of key players such as Brenden Dillon, Nate Schmidt, Tyler Toffoli, and Sean Monahan, the Jets tied for third in the NHL in goals per game (3.35) and lead the league in power play percentage (28.9 percent). Goalie Connor Hellebuyck won the William M. Jennings Trophy for his role in the team allowing a league-low 2.43 goals-against during the regular season. hellebuyck is also a finalist for the Vezina Trophy and the Hart Trophy.

Cheveldayoff also appointed Scott Arniel as the permanent coach before the season and acquired Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev before the NHL Trade Deadline on March 7.

According to Cheveldayoff, “When it gets to the Trade Deadline, it’s kind of like a box of chocolates, you don’t know necessarily what’s out there… I thought, for us, we kind of had a multi-layered plan going into the deadline as to how we wanted to attack it and wanted to give ourselves the greatest adaptability that we could. We were able to add [Schenn] and we were able to add [Tanev] two players that bring different elements to a lineup and in various different circumstances, they were very, very helpful in different regards.”

Cheveldayoff, 55, is a finalist for the second time, having been the runner-up in 2017-18.

Jim Nill, in his 12th season with the Stars, helped Dallas secure second place in the Central Division with a 50-26-6 record. During the offseason, Dallas signed Colin Blackwell, Mathew Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin, Brendan Smith, and casey DeSmith. The Stars advanced to the Western Conference Final for the third consecutive season, achieving this feat despite the absence of Tyler Seguin and Miro Heiskanen for a significant portion of the season.

Stars coach Pete DeBoer noted, “I got hear three years ago, and I think every year we’ve been in a spot at the deadline where [Nill has] gone out and traded assets to give us a chance to win. I think it’s not easy to do that from the GM chair, especially with Jim’s background. His background is scouting and developing and young players, so I give him all the credit in the world for taking the swings he’s taken over the last three years that I’ve been here.”

before the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, the Stars acquired mikko Rantanen, Mikael Granlund, and Cody Ceci. rantanen signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with the Stars and currently leads all playoff scorers with 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists), while Granlund has nine points (five goals, four assists). Ceci ranks third on the Stars in ice time per game during the playoffs (21:51).

Nill recounted,”If you had told me back in October Mikko Rantanen would be available for trade and you’d have a chance to get him,I’d say,’What are you smoking? What are you doing? What are you on here?’ Well,as of circumstances,he gets traded out East. I figure, ‘Well, he’s out East.’ Boom.Now you start to hear rumblings towards the deadline that they can’t sign him,and you get a phone call a week before the deadline. ‘Hey,we’re looking at different options.’ and it worked out.”

Nill, 67, has won the award the past two seasons and is a finalist for the fifth time.He finished third in voting in 2015-16 and 2019-20.

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger remarked, “When you make a trade like that for Mikko, obviously he gave up a lot of future stuff, but it shows the guys in here that he thinks we have a real chance at winning it all. You want to get it done for him, because he gave us huge pieces that we need to go on a long run.”

Bill Zito, in his fifth season as the panthers’ GM, guided Florida to the Eastern Conference Final for the third straight season. Despite losing key players from the Stanley Cup-winning team, including Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Lomberg, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brandon Montour, and Anthony Stolarz, Florida finished third in the Atlantic Division with a 47-31-4 record.

During free agency, the Panthers signed Jesper Boqvist, A.J. Greer,and Nate Schmidt,adding depth to the roster. Before the Trade Deadline, Florida acquired Seth Jones, Brad Marchand, and Vitek Vanecek.

Zito commented,”A player like [Marchand] a player like Seth too,when these players become available,and you have that need or that fit with your group,you pursue it,in my mind. And we’re thrilled.”

Zito, 60, is a finalist for the third consecutive season and the fourth time in five seasons, having finished third in 2020-21, 2022-23, and 2023-24.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice described his relationship with Zito: “How would I describe our relationship? He’s smart. Like, he’s just way smarter than I am and I’m fine with that. I’m not trying to be funny. His brain works way differently than mine and he sees possibilities. I’m more risk averse in some ways and he is,’I think we can make that deal.’ He is a very positive, very optimistic person. You feel it.You feel it every day. He’s in our coach’s office every single day. He pulls up a chair and he hangs out with us, and he’s fully cozy firing out any, as he would say, crazy idea, and some of them are, but a lot of them are just, ‘Yeah, I hadn’t thought about it like that before.'”