NHL General Manager of the Year Award

The NHL GM of the Year award is a new honor in the league, first given in 2009-10. The recipient is selected annually by a vote of all NHL team general managers, five NHL executives and five members of the media. Award winners to date are:

• 2009-10 — Don Maloney, Phoenix Coyotes
• 2010-11 — Mike Gillis, Vancouver Canucks
• 2011-12 — Doug Armstrong, St. Louis Blues
• 2012-13 — Ray Shero, Pittsburgh Penguins
• 2013-14 — Bob Murray, Anaheim Ducks
• 2014-15 — Steve Yzerman, Tampa Bay Lightning
• 2015-16 — Jim Rutherford, Pittsburgh Penguins
• 2016-17 — David Poile, Nashville Predators
• 2017-18 — George McPhee, Vegas Golden Knights

About the NHL GM of the Year Recipients

Here is what the award recipients accomplished in the year they were selected.

• Don Maloney guided the (then ownerless) Coyotes to its best regular season ever in 2009-10. From Lindsay, Ontario, Maloney played for the New York Rangers, Hartford Whalers and New York Islanders. He scored 29 goals for the Rangers in 1982-83.
• Mike Gillis, from Sudbury, Ontario, steered the Canucks to the best regular-season record and to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010-11.
• Doug Armstrong guided the Blues to their first 100-point season with a club that broke several team records in 2011-12. From Sarnia, Ontario, Armstrong started his NHL front office career with the Dallas Stars in 1991.
• Ray Shero, who became Pittsburgh GM in 2006, accumulated one Stanley Cup, two Cup Finals and seven straight postseason appearances when he won GM of the Year honors in 2012-13. From St. Paul, Minnesota, Shero is the son of Fred Shero, who won the first Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year in 1974.
• Bob Murray built a strong contender in the Ducks, with division titles in consecutive seasons and their best record in team history in 2013-14, with 116 points. From Kingston, Ontario, Murray played most of his career for the Chicago Blackhawks, with 132 career goals.
• Steve Yzerman’s Tampa Bay team won a team-best 50 regular-season games in 2014-15, and also led the NHL with 262 goals and 32 home-ice wins. From Cranbrook, British Columbia, Yzerman had a stellar playing career for the Detroit Red Wings, winning three Stanley Cups with the team (he won one more as GM of the Lightning in 2008).
• Jim Rutherford made a number of major personnel moves in 2015-16 that ultimately led to a Stanley Cup victory for the Penguins. Born in Beeton, Ontario, Rutherford was GM and part owner of the Carolina Hurricanes when they won the Stanley Cup in 2006.
• David Poile, with more than 35 years as an NHL general manager, is the longest-serving GM in league history. His player trades in 2016-17 helped produce a Stanley Cup Final appearance for the Predators. From Toronto, Ontario, Poile is also the winningest GM in NHL history.
• George McPhee led the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in its first year as a franchise — enough said. From Guelph, Ontario, McPhee played in the NHL for the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.

Side note: If you want to win the NHL General Manager of the Year award, it helps to be born in Ontario. All but three award recipients hail from that province.