Canadiens' Bergevin, Kings' Lombardi and Ducks' Murray named finalists for NHL GM of the Year Award

NEW YORK -- Marc Bergevin of the Montreal Canadiens, Dean Lombardi of the Los Angeles Kings and Bob Murray of the Anaheim Ducks are the three finalists for the 2013-14 NHL General Manager of the Year Award, the National Hockey League announced today. Bergevin and Murray are finalists for the second consecutive season, while Lombardi is a finalist for the first time.

Voting for this award was conducted among the 30 club general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media at the conclusion of the Second Round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The winner will be announced Tuesday, June 24, during the 2014 NHL Awards from Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. The 2014 NHL Awards will be broadcast by NBCSN in the United States and CBC in Canada.

Following are the finalists for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award, in alphabetical order:

Marc Bergevin, Montreal Canadiens

Bergevin guided the Canadiens (46-28-8, 100 points) to their second 100-point season since 1992-93, leading the team to the playoffs for the second time in as many years as general manager. He bolstered the offense with the summer signing of Daniel Briere and also added grit with the offseason acquisitions of Douglas Murray and George Parros. Bergevin then shored up the roster with midseason trades for Thomas Vanek, Mike Weaver and Dale Weise, all of whom played critical roles in the team advancing to the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in the past five seasons.

“Marc, since he arrived with the Canadiens, has done an extraordinary job," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "With his charisma, his emotion, his sense for making good decisions, all that means the Canadiens are at a different level than when he arrived. … The chemistry Marc was able to establish on our management team with the people he's surrounded himself with, with the coaching staff, with everyone, I think that's felt by the players."

Dean Lombardi, Los Angeles Kings

Under the direction of Lombardi, the Kings (46-28-8, 100 points) earned their fifth consecutive playoff berth, recorded their fourth 100-point season in franchise history and made their third straight appearance in the Western Conference Final. He solidified the team's blue line by re-signing defensemen Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin and Slava Voynov and did the same up front by bringing back Dustin Brown, Kyle Clifford, Trevor Lewis and Jordan Nolan. Lombardi then kick-started the club's offense with the addition of Marian Gaborik at the Trade Deadline; after being blanked six times in 63 games prior to his arrival, the Kings were not shut out once in the final 19 contests of the regular season with Gaborik in the lineup.

"His plan when he came here, he needed to be able to put it in place for a team that was probably behind the eight ball, in terms of a lot of different things, in terms of the management part of it, probably the scouting part of it," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said.

Bob Murray, Anaheim Ducks

Murray paved the way for the finest season in Ducks history, leading the team to its second straight Pacific Division title; the top record in the Western Conference for the first time in club history; and franchise records in wins (54), points (116), points percentage (.707), home wins (29) and road wins (25). He set the Ducks up for success by re-signing Matt Beleskey, Saku Koivu, Ben Lovejoy and Kyle Palmieri as well as enticing Teemu Selanne to return for one final season. Murray also traded for Mathieu Perreault during the preseason; added depth players in Mark Fistric, Tim Jackman, Stephane Robidas and Jakob Silfverberg; and oversaw the development of young goaltenders Frederik Andersen and John Gibson.