NEW YORK — Peter Chiarelli of the Edmonton Oilers and Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators are among the three finalists for the 2016-17 General Manager of the Year award.
David Poile of the Nashville Predators is the other finalists, the NHL announced on Tuesday night. The winner will be announced on June 21 at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.
Chiarelli put together an Oilers team that earned its first playoff berth since the 2005-06 season. Edmonton was eliminated in the second round of the post-season by the Anaheim Ducks.
Some of Chiarelli’s moves included trading forward Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Adam Larsson as well as signing veterans Milan Lucic and Kris Russell. The Oilers finished second in the Pacific Division are were led offensively by captain Connor McDavid, who won the regular season scoring title with 100 points.
Dorion helped the Senators return to the Stanley Cup playoffs after a one-year absence in his first year as the team’s GM. Ottawa has also returned to the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2007.
The 44-year-old hired head coach Guy Boucher and associate coach Marc Crawford a month into his tenure. Dorion also traded for centre Derick Brassard in the off-season and landed forwards Alexandre Burrows, Viktor Stalberg and Tommy Wingels through trades.
Poile and the Predators earned a post-season berth for the 10th time in 13 seasons and advanced to the conference finals for the first time. Poile made a blockbuster move in the off-season by acquiring defenceman P.K. Subban from the Montreal Canadiens for captain Shea Weber.
Other transactions under his tenure include adding forwards Ryan Johansen, James Neal, Filip Forsberg and Mike Fisher. It’s the fourth time that Poile is a finalist for the award, but has never won.
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