NHL announces finalists for Jim Gregory Award

The award is voted on by a panel including all 32 general managers, along with league executives and print & broadcast media, going to the general manager who excelled at their position the most that season. It is the only award not voted on at the end of the regular season, instead waiting until after the start of the Conference Finals before starting the vote.

Nill is in his 10th season at the helm of the Stars, with the team finishing second in the Central Division with a 47-21-14 record and currently in the Western Conference Final after beating both the Minnesota Wild and the Seattle Kraken, although they are down 0-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights at the time of the finalists’ announcement. Nill made several moves to improve his team this season, including signing Mason Marchment and Colin Miller, as well as trading for Nils Lundkvist, Evgenii Dadonov and Max Domi. It’s Nill’s third time being nominated for the award, also doing so in 2015-16 and 2019-20.

Sweeney is in his seventh season as the GM of the Bruins, with the team setting the NHL record for wins and points in a season with their 65-12-5 record, although they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Panthers after blowing a 3-1 series lead. Sweeney notably brought back David Krejci in the offseason, as well as traded for Pavel Zacha before the season and Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway and Tyler Bertuzzi at the trade deadline. Sweeney has been a finalist once previously, in 2018-19 when he won the award.

Zito is in his third year as the Panthers’ GM, with the team barely making the playoffs with a 42-32-8 record before upsetting the Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs to make it to the Eastern Conference Final, where they have a 3-0 series lead on the Carolina Hurricanes at the time of the finalists’ announcement. Zito didn’t make a ton of big signings in the offseason, but his biggest move was the blockbuster trade that brought in Matthew Tkachuk, who had a season that resulted in being a finalist for the Hart trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. This is Zito’s second time as a finalist, also getting the honor in 2020-21.