The NHL announced on Saturday night that New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello is the winner of the 2020 Jim Gregory Award, which goes to the league’s general manager of the year.
Voting for the award was conducted by league general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media at the end of the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julian Brisebois and Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill were the other two finalists for the award.
Colorado’s Joe Sakic and Vegas’ Kelly McCrimmon rounded out the top-five.
[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]
This is Lamoriello’s second year in charge of the Islanders’ organization and it has been their most successful season -- in terms of postseason success, anyway -- in nearly three decades as they have reached the conference final round for the first time since the 1992-93 season.
Among the moves made by Lamoriello over the past year were...
- The ability to retain three of the team’s top free agents by re-signing Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, and Jordan Eberle to long-term contracts this past summer. All three have been key contributors to this year’s roster, and especially during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- The free agent signings of Derick Brassard and Semyon Varlamov. Varlamov took over as the team’s primary starting goalie to replace Robin Lehner.
- Making two significant additions at the trade deadline by acquiring defenseman Andy Greene from the New Jersey Devils and center Jean-Gabriel Pageau from the Ottawa Senators, and then signing Pageau to a six-year, $30 million contract extension. Pageau’s addition has been a significant one for the Islanders as he has not only been an outstanding defensive presence in the middle of their lineup, but he has also been a big offensive contributor and improved their overall center depth.
The Islanders continue their Eastern Conference Final series on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, NBC, Livestream) with their Game 4 matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
MORE STANLEY CUP COVERAGE:
• Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Final schedule
—
Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.