Wild’s Bill Guerin wins NHL GM of the Year Award

Friday’s first round of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft was a special night for Gavin McKenna, who was picked first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the rest of the players whose dreams were realized by getting selected. Not everyone who got some shine on Friday night was an incoming prospect, however.

Midway through the proceedings of the first round, the NHL honored Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin with the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award for the 2025-26 season. The award is handed out annually to NHL’s most outstanding GM, and was established in the 2009-10 season.

Voting for the award was conducted by the NHL’s 32 GMs, along with a panel of NHL executives and media members at the end of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Each GM was granted five points for a first-place vote, three points for a second-place vote, and one points for a third-place vote. Guerin won the award with 131 total points comprising 14 first-place votes, 19 second-place votes, and four third-place votes.

Colorado Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland, who has since been hired as the Nashville Predators‘ GM and president of hockey operations, finished second in the voting with 123 points despite having six more first-place votes than Guerin.

It certainly was a tremendous year for Guerin, who oversaw Minnesota as they won their first playoff series since 2015. His most monumental move last season was the blockbuster trade for star defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks, who was central to the Wild’s late season and playoff success.

Of course, Guerin also served as the GM for the U.S. Men’s Olympic hockey team, who won gold at February’s 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics with a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory over Canada in the gold medal game.