NHL Names Finalists for General Manager of the Year

The National Hockey League announced the finalists for the 2016 General Manager of the Year Award on Wednesday.

The award will be presented at the 2016 NHL Awards at the Hard Rock and Casino Hotel in Las Vegas on June 22 to Brian MacLellan of the Washington Capitals, Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars or Jim Rutherford of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The three executives received the most votes from a panel of the 30 general managers, league executives and members of the media. 

All three nominees are first time finalists for the award. The General Manager of the Year Award, is a fairly recent one, as it was first presented to the top executive following the 2009-2010 season.

Rutherford made probably the biggest splash in the offseason last summer, when he acquired Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He also picked up Nick Bonino from the Vancouver Canuks, as well as signing free agents, Eric Fehr and Matt Cullen during the summer. 

During the season Rutherford was able to acquire Carl Hagelin from the Anaheim Ducks and Trevor Daley from the Chicago Blackhawks via separate trades. 

The biggest move that Rutherford made to help the Penguins during the 2015-2016 season, was in mid-December, when he replaced head coach Mike Johnston behind the bench, with Mike Sullivan, the bench boss of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

The Penguins went 34-16-5 under Sullivan, with the third best points in the league during that timeframe. 

MacLellan’s offseason moves during the summer, included bringing in “Mr. Game 7,” Justin Williams and trading for 2014 US Olympic hero, T.J. Oshie. Both players, along with Alexander Ovechkin, helped lead the Capitals to the President’s Trophy and the best record during the regular season. 

The Capitals 120 overall points in the standings and 56 victories were both franchise records. The Caps started out of the gate strong, without ever looking back enroute to the number one seed in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Nill brought in some experience to the Stars by adding defenseman Johnny Oduya, forward Patrick Sharp and goaltender Antti Niemi to the lineup. 

The new acquisitions, along with their returning lineup, help lead the Stars to their first Central Division title since 2005-2006. The Stars also claimed the top seed in the Western Conference in 2015-2016, as well. 

In his third season as the general manager in Dallas, the Stars have made the postseason twice.

Rutherford’s Penguins knocked off MacLellan’s Capitals in six games during the second round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, before moving on to face the defending Eastern Conference Champion Tampa Bay Lighting in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Nill’s Stars, dropped a seven game series, to the St. Louis Blues in their second round matchup.