Nill, Zito, Cheveldayoff up for NHL's GM of the Year

The Dallas Stars' Jim Nill, Florida Panthers' Bill Zito, and Winnipeg Jets' Kevin Cheveldayoff are the finalists for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, the league announced Friday.

Voting was conducted by NHL GMs and a panel of league executives and print and broadcast media at the conclusion of Round 2 of the playoffs.

Nill is looking to win the award for the third year in a row. His Stars find themselves in the Western Conference Final for the third consecutive season, due in large part to moves made by the veteran executive. Nill made the league's biggest deadline splash by acquiring Mikko Rantanen, who leads all skaters with 20 points this postseason. Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci have proven to be key additions as well.

Zito is also in his third straight year of being named a finalist, as his Panthers are locked into their third consecutive Eastern Conference Final. He rebuilt the Panthers' blue line by signing Nate Schmidt in the summer and bringing in Seth Jones midseason after losing Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the offseason. Zito made a savvy deadline move of his own with the addition Brad Marchand from the rival Boston Bruins.

Cheveldayoff is a finalist for the second time in his career, with the first coming in 2017-18. He led the Jets to their first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history. His key moves over the last year include hiring head coach Scott Arniel, extending Alex Iafallo, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Neal Pionk, and adding Brandon Tanev and Luke Schenn at the deadline.