Jim Nill has become the standard for general managers in the NHL.
The mind behind the construction of the Dallas Stars roster is once again a finalist for the league’s Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, the team announced Friday.
Nill has won the award the past two seasons, and this is his fifth time as a finalist.
With the Stars in the Western Conference finals for the third straight season, Nill’s contributions to the team this season include bringing in key players such as Mikko Rantanen, Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci via trades.
Nill also locked up Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston to long-term contracts on the same day the team acquired Rantanen.
Kevin Cheveldayoff of the Winnipeg Jets and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers are the two other finalists.
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 as a league executive for four decades.