Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin just missed out on winning a major award today.
The league’s first Swedish-born general manager came up just short of winning the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award. Jim Nill from the Dallas Stars was named the winner and Bill Zito from the Florida Panthers finished as the other finalist.
It’s the second year in a row that Nill has won.
Congrats to Jim Nill of the @DallasStars who is this year’s recipient of the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award! 🏆 #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/ah2w25sk8G
— NHL (@NHL) June 10, 2024
If he had finished in first place, Allvin would’ve become the first European ever to win the award. As it stands, he still made NHL history as the first European to be named a finalist.
The Canucks general manager finished second with 66 total voting points and six first-place votes.
#Canucks GM Patrik Allvin finished second in voting for general manager of the year. pic.twitter.com/e98UH7NyMp
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) June 11, 2024
Allvin has orchestrated a massive turnaround for the Canucks since being hired in January 2022. He inherited a lottery team and has built a contender which took the Western Conference champions to Game 7 this year.
The 49-year-old has the Canucks far ahead of schedule. The team finished with the third best record in franchise history last season, finishing just behind the dominant 2010-11 and 2011-12 teams in the Sedin Twins era.
While Allvin has done a lot of great work with the roster, perhaps his best move was naming Rick Tocchet head coach. The former NHL star has done a wonderful behind the bench for the Canucks and won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year.
Allvin has done a great job so far and put the Canucks in a good spot but he has a lot of work ahead of himself. The team has an abundance of free agents, especially on the blue line, and the general manager will need to find a way to improve the roster despite likely overturning a significant portion of the team.
Mike Gillis is the only other Canucks general manager to ever be nominated for the general manager of the year award. He won back in 2010-11, only the second season that the award was given out.