Allvin, Nill, Zito finalists for 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 the finalists for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award.

The award has been presented annually since 2009-10 to the general manager who best excelled at his role during the regular season. It is voted on by the League's general managers and a panel of NHL executives and print and broadcast media after the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Allvin, in his third season with the Canucks, helped them finish first in the Pacific Division (50-23-9) and win a division title for the first time since 2013. Vancouver, in its first full season under coach Rick Tocchet, who was hired on Jan. 22, 2023, improved by 12 wins and 26 points from last season to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Tocchet was named winner of the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year on Wednesday, two days after Vancouver lost to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in the second round.

Vancouver signed defensemen Carson Soucy and Ian Cole as well as forwards Teddy Blueger and Pius Suter prior to the season. Each played on the penalty kill, which improved to tied for 17th (79.1 percent) after ranking last in 2022-23 (71.6 percent), and helped the Canucks finish tied for fifth in goals against per game (2.70) after finishing 25th in 2022-23 (3.61). Vancouver acquired forward Sam Lafferty from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a fifth-round draft pick on Oct. 8; defenseman Nikita Zadorov from the Calgary Flames on Nov. 30 for two draft picks; and forward Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames on Jan. 31 for forward Andrei Kuzmenko, defenseman prospects Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo and two draft picks. The Canucks also signed Elias Pettersson to an eight-year contract on March 2; he could have become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Allvin, 49, a first-time finalist, would be the first Canucks GM to win the award since Mike Gillis in 2010-11.

"I'm very lucky," Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. "I got a little bit of a runway with knowing (team president) Jim (Rutherford) and Patrik (with the Pittsburgh Penguiins) with the personalities, how we mesh. Even the way Patrik acts with our other coaches, it's a tight group. He's around enough to be around. He's not in our faces and he loves the feedback, even feedback that he doesn't want to hear, and he takes it very well. Sometimes he doesn't -- no (laughs) -- but I just like the connection.

"I think you have to be connected to your GM and there's going to be some bumpy days and stuff, but I think the communication is outstanding. The year and a half I've been here, you're going to go through issues here and there, but I think the communication has been awesome. Probably the best I've ever had as a head coach. Definitely."

Nill, in his 11th season with the Stars, helped them finish first in the Central Division (52-21-9) and Western Conference this season. Dallas signed free agent forwards Matt Duchene, Sam Steel and Craig Smith each to a one-year contract prior to the season. Duchene, who had his contract bought out by the Nashville Predators in the offseason, was tied for fourth on the Stars with 65 points (25 goals, 40 assists) in 80 regular-season games. Dallas also got contributions from 21-year-old forwards Wyatt Johnston (65 points) and rookie Logan Stankoven (14 points in 24 games) and has advanced to the Western Conference Final for the second straight season.

Prior to the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, the Stars acquired defenseman Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames in a three-team trade also involving the New Jersey Devils for a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Tanev leads the playoffs in blocked shots (56) and is fourth in ice time per game (23:42) on the Stars.

"I think this is part of his big-picture (vision) maybe when he got here was having a competitive team year after year and have a window that’s hopefully always open," Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. "That’s the dream of the League, right? But I think when you look at our roster, just the different ages we have, the different levels of ages, I think the future’s bright here for many years, but obviously with this opportunity in front of us, we’d like to take advantage of it."

Nill, 66, who won the award last season, is a finalist for the fourth time; he was third in voting in 2015-16 and 2019-20.

Zito, in his fourth season as Panthers GM, helped Florida reach the Eastern Conference Final for the second straight season. Florida (52-24-6) won the Atlantic Division this season. After losing in the Stanley Cup Final last season, the Panthers signed forward Evan Rodrigues (39 points), defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson (32 points), Dmitry Kulikov (20 points) and Niko Mikkola (17 points), and goalie Anthony Stolarz. Stolarz ranked first in goals-against average (2.00) and save percentage (.927) among goalies to play at least 27 games.

"It obviously it starts with Bill," forward Ryan Lomberg said Thursday. "Bill brings in guys that are high-character guys, good teammates and obviously good players."

Prior to the Trade Deadline, Florida acquired 2019 Stanley Cup champion Vladimir Tarasenko from the Ottawa Senators for two draft picks, and forward Kyle Okposo from the Buffalo Sabres for a draft pick.

Zito, 59, was a finalist for the award last season and in 2020-21, finishing third in voting each time.

NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika and staff writer David Satriano contributed to this report