NEW YORK (May 12, 2026) – Bill Guerin of the Minnesota Wild, Chris MacFarland of the Colorado Avalanche and Pat Verbeek of the Anaheim Ducks are the three finalists for the 2025-26 Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, the National Hockey League announced today.
Voting for this award was conducted among the NHL general managers and a panel of League executives and media at the conclusion of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Chris MacFarland, Colorado Avalanche
Under MacFarland the Avalanche (55-16-11, 121 points) led the overall NHL standings every day from Nov. 1 through to the end of the season to win the franchise’s fourth Presidents’ Trophy and make their ninth consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, tied with Tampa Bay for the NHL’s longest active streak. Their 121 points were the most in franchise history and they became just the fourth team in the expansion era (since 1967-68) to lead the League in both (non-shootout) goals for (298) and goals against (197). MacFarland strengthened the perennial playoff contenders in the offseason by retaining forward Brock Nelson, acquired at the 2024-25 trade deadline, and signing free agent defenseman Brent Burns. He continued to improve the roster with in-season trade acquisitions Nazem Kadri, Brett Kulak, Nicolas Roy and Nick Blankenberg. MacFarland, in his fourth season as Avalanche GM and 11th with the organization, is a Jim Gregory finalist for the first time. His predecessor, current president of hockey operations Joe Sakic, became the first Colorado GM to capture the award in 2021-22.
History
The NHL General Manager of the Year Award first was presented in 2009-10. It was renamed in 2019-20 in honor of Jim Gregory, the 2007 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee who served as Toronto Maple Leafs general manager and a League executive for four decades.
