Ranking The Three Finalists For NHL's GM Of The Year Award
Being an NHL GM isn't for the faint of heart.
You've got to not only put together a team that makes the playoffs year in and year out, but you need to make improvements annually and try to win the Stanley Cup.
The three finalists for this year's Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award work for Western Conference teams still in the hunt to win a Cup this season.
A panel of GMs, executives and media submit their ballots for the award at the end of the first round of the playoffs.
For the first time since 2022, the award won't be won by the Dallas Stars' Jim Nill, whose three straight GM-of-the-year honors make him the most accomplished GM in the award's relatively short history. Icon Lou Lamoriello has won the award twice, while no other GM has won it more than once in the award's 16 seasons.
Wild's Bill Guerin Named Finalist For Jim Gregory General Manager Of The Year Award
After orchestrating a blockbuster trade for Quinn Hughes and ending Minnesota's decade-long playoff drought, Bill Guerin lands his first nomination for the NHL's top executive honor.
1. Chris MacFarland, Colorado Avalanche
MacFarland isn't a household name outside of pro hockey circles, but he's our pick to win the Jim Gregory Award for a couple of key reasons.
Firstly, he and Avalanche president Joe Sakic put together the NHL's best team, bell-to-bell, from the start of the regular season to the end.
Then, MacFarland went about plugging virtually every one of the few holes he had in his roster with in-season trades, re-acquiring star center Nazem Kadri from the Calgary Flames, acquiring veteran center Nicolas Roy from the Toronto Maple Leafs and bringing in and veteran blueliner Brett Kulak from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
As a result, the Avalanche have been an even more imposing team in the playoffs, losing just one game out of eight thus far.
MacFarland has only been GM in Colorado since the summer of 2022, but he's quickly made a name for himself in the hockey business by delivering the results teams crave.
While we see MacFarland as the favorite to win this year's Jim Gregory Award, we also believe this year won't be the last he deserves to win it.
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 1:59 PM.