Jets’ Cheveldayoff a finalist for NHL general manager of the year with Nill, Zito

Winnipeg Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, right, and head coach Scott Arniel speak to media at a press conference in Winnipeg, Monday, May 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

NEW YORK — Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff is one of three finalists for the 2025 Jim Gregory Award.

Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers are the other finalists announced Friday by the NHL for the award given annually to the league’s top GM.

Cheveldayoff, a runner-up for the award in 2018, built a team that won the Presidents’ Trophy as the top regular-season team with a franchise-best 56-22-4 record.

His first move of the off-season was hiring Scott Arneil as head coach. Arniel is a finalist for the Jack Adams award, given to the league’s top coach.

He acquired winger Brandon Tanev and defenceman Luke Schenn at the trade deadline to add to a core that included forwards Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers and captain Adam Lowry, defenceman Josh Morrissey and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck — all Cheveldayoff draft picks.

The Jets advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs, where they were defeated in six games by Nill’s Stars.

Dallas (50-26-6, 106 points) finished fifth in the NHL’s overall standings during the regular season, marking the first time the franchise posted a top-five finish in consecutive seasons since the Presidents’ Trophy-winning teams in 1997-98 and 1998-99.

Nill strengthened the roster for the playoffs with the acquisition of winger Mikko Rantanen from Carolina at the March 7 trade deadline.

Nill is a finalist for a record fifth time, winning the award in 2023 and 2024.

The Stars led the Edmonton Oilers 1-0 in the Western Conference final heading into Game 2 on Friday.

Zito and the defending Stanley Cup-champion Panthers posted a 98-point regular season (47-31-4), good for third in the Atlantic Division, but showed their true quality in the playoffs by eliminating Tampa Bay and Toronto to advance to the Eastern Conference final for a third straight year.

The Panthers currently lead the conference final 2-0 over the Hurricanes after dominating the opening two games in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Zito is a finalist for the third straight season and fourth time overall, finishing third in voting in 2021, 2023 and 2024.

The NHL’s GM of the year award was renamed in 2019-20 in honour of Jim Gregory, the 2007 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee who served as Toronto Maple Leafs general manager and a league executive for four decades.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2025.

The Canadian Press