Rick Tocchet joined the Vancouver Canucks at a vulnerable time for the club. But since then, he's turned this team around and earned himself the NHL's Jack Adams Award. Jim Nill holds the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award at the 2023 NHL Awards ceremony. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA2NjQwNTAwNTU4NTM4MTc0/usatsi_21017286_168400847_lowres.jpg] Jim Nill holds the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award at the 2023 NHL Awards ceremony. While the NHL's already started to reveal award winners, it's now announced the finalists for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award. Patrik Allvin of the Vancouver Canucks, Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers are all finalists to be the GM of the year, as voted by NHL GMs and a panel of league executives, print and broadcast media after the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The winner will be announced during pre-game programming before the Stanley Cup final game on Monday, June 10. Here's more on each finalist as listed in alphabetical order: PATRIK ALLVIN, VANCOUVER CANUCKS Allvin was part of the Canucks' 26-point improvement in the standings over last season when it looked like much of the hockey world had ruled out the Canucks from being a playoff contender. A lot of the credit goes to hiring Rick Tocchet in January 2023 after he won the Jack Adams Award this season as the NHL's coach of the year. But Allvin made a handful of roster additions that improved the team's depth in most areas of the lineup, including Elias Lindholm, Pius Suter, Teddy Blueger and Sam Lafferty on offense and Nikita Zadorov and Ian Cole on defense. The Canucks captured the Pacific Division title and made it to the second round of the playoffs before bowing out to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. JIM NILL, DALLAS STARS Nill has already been a finalist for the Jim Gregory Award three times in his career, and he won it for the first time last season when the Dallas Stars finished fourth in the Western Conference with 108 points and made it to the third round. This year, the Stars finished first in the West with 113 points and are in the Western Conference final once again. Their .689 points percentage is the best the team's seen since 1998-99 when they won the Stanley Cup. Under Nill, the Stars drafted eight players currently on the roster, including Miro Heiskanen, Jason Robertson, Jake Oettinger and Wyatt Johnston, who have been some of the team's top performers this post-season. But Nill continues to find ways to improve his roster by signing Matt Duchene, Craig Smith and Sam Steel during the off-season and trading for Chris Tanev near the deadline. BILL ZITO, FLORIDA PANTHERS This is the first time the Panthers advanced to the Eastern Conference final in back-to-back seasons, and Zito's earned credit for that feat. Florida finished the regular season tied for the fewest goals against after ranking 21st in that category last year. While it's been a team effort, the Panthers received positive contributions from additions Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dmitry Kulikov and Nikko Mikkola on the back end. Their goalie tandem was also one of the league's best thanks to adding backup Anthony Stolarz, who had a .925 save percentage in 27 games. Zito also added Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo before the trade deadline. He is the first GM to be a finalist for this award in three of his first four seasons. Get the latest news and trending stories right to your inbox by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [https://info.thehockeynews.com/mail/microsites/951/1/gTeQVf?_gl=1*ustlbj*_ga*NjkyMzUxMy4xNjYzNjIwMzQ3*_ga_PK63FB1PME*MTcxMzUwOTExNi40NDguMS4xNzEzNTA5MjA5LjU5LjAuMA..].
