The mind behind the construction of the Dallas Stars roster is once again a finalist for the league’s Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, the team announced Friday. Nill has won the award the past two seasons, and this is his fifth time as a finalist.

Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill won the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award in 2022-23 and 2023-24. No GM has ever won the award three times.

Peter DeBoer jokingly has referred to himself as being Finnish during these NHL playoffs. After all, he has five of the 13 players from Finland who are on the rosters of the four teams still chasing the Stanley Cup.

Nill, the longtime Detroit Red Wings assistant GM, on Friday was named a finalist the award, which he won the previous two seasons. The other finalists are Kevin Cheveldayoff of the Winnipeg Jets and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers.

DeBoer, 56, is a native of Dunnville, Ontario in Canada. He has 18 years of head coaching experience in the NHL, previously leading teams like the Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights.

In the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Florida Panthers seized a 5-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final,

The Stars opened their Western Conference final rematch against the Oilers with a 6-3 victory Wednesday in Dallas.

Klingberg battled back from hip surgery with Edmonton and now returns to Dallas, where he played for eight seasons, for the conference finals.