On Wednesday night, the NHL announced Stars general manager Jim Nill as the winner of the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award. Nill helped construct a team that made it to the Western Conference finals, taking the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights to six games.
Nill was one of three finalists for the award, joined by Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers. According to a press release, Nill gathered 91 points in a vote conducted by a panel of league executives, media members and general managers around the NHL.
“We’re really proud of Jim on this accomplishment,” Stars owner Tom Gaglardi said in a statement. “He’s been a cornerstone of this organization for a decade, and the club’s performance on the ice this season was a testament to his exceptional work over that time. This season represented another stride towards our ultimate goal of winning another championship for the city of Dallas.”
The Stars general manager received 12 first-place selections, nine second-place votes and four third-place votes. Sweeney came in second with 83 points, while Zito collected 46.
Though the Stars went on a deep playoff run, Nill didn’t make many flashy moves during the season. Dallas made two key trades for Max Domi and Evgenii Dadonov at the trade deadline. In the offseason, new coach Pete DeBoer might have been the biggest new acquisition.
The reason Dallas didn’t need any splashy free agents or big trades this year was because of the young core. The Stars inked Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Jake Oettinger to long-term extensions. Nill also re-signed veteran Joe Pavelski, a scoring machine in the playoffs, to a one-year extension during the season.
This is the first time Nill has won the award, finishing third in voting on two previous occasions (2015-16 and 2019-20).
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