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2021 NHL Awards: PHT’s ballots for the Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award

nhl gm of the year

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 20: A detailed view of the NHL General Manager of the Year Award is seen positioned on a table at the 2018 NHL Awards at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on June 20, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

The NHL will be announcing the winner of the 2020-21 Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award during Sunday’s Game 4 of the Canadiens-Golden Knights series (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN / Peacock). The award is given to the GM “who best-excelled in his role during the regular season.”

It is an award that is voted on by all 31 NHL GMs following the conclusion of the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs..

Montreal’s Marc Bergevin, New York’s Lou Lamoriello, and Florida’s Bill Zito are this year’s finalists.

Prior to the start of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Pro Hockey Talk team submitted their ballots for the major individual NHL awards. Here’s our voting breakdown for GM of the Year (voting after the Second Round is silly), using the NHL’s 5-3-1 points allocation for places:

1. Joe Sakic, Colorado - 18 points (15-3-0)
2. Bill Zito, Florida - 14 points (10-3-1)
3. Julien BriseBois, Tampa Bay - 3 points (0-3-0)
4. Marc Bergevin, Montreal - 3 points (0-3-0)
Bill Guerin, Minnesota - 3 points (0-3-0)
Don Sweeney, Boston - 3 points (0-0-3)
5. Don Waddell, Carolina - 1 point (0-0-1)

Sean Leahy, NHL writer

1. Bill Zito
2. Joe Sakic
3. Don Sweeney

In building a team around his young stars and Joel Quenneville, Zito added Patric Hornqvist, Radko Gudas, Carter Verhaeghe, Alex Wennberg, MacKenzie Weegar, and Anthony Duclair in the off-season, plus Sam Bennett at the trade deadline. The moves helped the franchise build a foundation to ensure their successful 2020-21 season wasn’t a one-hit wonder.

Adam Gretz, NHL writer

1. Joe Sakic
2. Bill Zito
3. Don Sweeney

Joe Sakic just keeps pushing all of the right buttons in Colorado. Not only has he built a powerhouse team that is set to contend for the Stanley Cup for years, but his additions of Devon Toews and Brandon Saad before the start of this season were just perfect complementary additions to his roster without having to send away anything of significance.

[NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2021 schedule, TV info]

James O’Brien, NHL writer

1. Joe Sakic
2. Julien Brisebois
3. Don Sweeney

GM of the Year is ultimately the culmination of multiple years of work, and it’s resounding how dominant the Avalanche have been -- just consider if they’d stay healthy. Complain all you want about Kucherov on LTIR, but the Lightning play the salary cap like a fiddle, and have done it for years. And getting Taylor Hall for the lint in his pocket was some fabulous work by Sweeney. But Sakic and the Avs are pressing all the right buttons, and leaving themselves some solid flexibility for the future while doing so.

Marisa Ingemi, NHL writer

1. Joe Sakic
2. Marc Bergevin
3. Bill Zito

Colorado was already loaded but the moves for Devon Toews and Brandon Saad went under the radar. Bergevin made some great offseason moves to turn around Montreal, who made the postseason despite firing their coach midway through the year.

Michael Finewax, NBC Sports Edge Senior Hockey Writer/Editor

1. Bill Zito
2. Bill Guerin
3. Don Waddell

Guerin did a great job in Minnesota as did Zito with the Panthers and Zito narrowly beats out the Wild GM for his off-season signing of Carter Verhaeghe as well as trades for Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour at the deadline. The first-year GM did a terrific job and is deserving of the award.

Jake Abrahams, Managing Editor, NHL content

1. Bill Zito
2. Bill Guerin
3. Kyle Dubas

If Florida falls short this year, it won’t be because Zito didn’t give them the best possible chance to win. He’s made move after move to improve the Panthers, and they’ve immediately become a Cup contender because of it.