Marc Bergevin of the Montreal Canadiens, Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Bob Murray of the Anaheim Ducks
Marc Bergevin of the Montreal Canadiens, Bob Murray of the Anaheim Ducks and Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins were finalists for the NHL general manager of the year on Monday.
The winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup final. Each GM is a finalist for the first time.
In his first season as an NHL GM, Bergevin guided the Canadiens to a Northeast Division title. Montreal was also the league's most improved club this past season.
The Canadiens were second in the Eastern Conference standings after finishing 28th in the overall standings a year earlier. Bergevin hired Michel Therrien as head coach and selected centre Alex Galchenyuk with the third overall selection in the 2012 NHL Draft.
Bergevin strengthened the roster with the signings of defenceman Francis Bouillon and forwards Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong. He also acquired forward Michael Ryder in a mid-season trade.
Murray oversaw a Ducks club that enjoyed its finest regular season in franchise history, capturing the Pacific Division and No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
He strengthened Anaheim's goaltending by signing Sweden native Viktor Fasth as a free agent last May. Murray also bolstered the defence corps with the signings of Sheldon Souray and Bryan Allen and a trade for Ben Lovejoy.
In addition, Murray enticed forward Teemu Selanne to return for a 20th NHL season and signed forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry to eight-year contract extensions.
Shero made key additions to an already-strong roster throughout the year that helped propel the Penguins to their first Atlantic Division title since 2008 and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
He obtained centre Brandon Sutter and goaltender Tomas Vokoun in off-season trades and later brought defenceman Douglas Murray and forwards Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Jussi Jokinen to Pittsburgh in deals leading up to the trade deadline.
Voting for the award was conducted among the 30 club general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media.