Winnipeg’s “busiest man of the summer”, Kevin Cheveldayoff, has been named as one of the three finalists for this year’s Jim Gregory GM of the year award. This award has been presented on awards night since 2009-10 to the GM who “best excelled at his role” during the regular season. Unlike other awards, this award is voted on by both the league’s 32 GMs and a group of NHL executives from both print and broadcast media.

Cheveldayoff has served as both the Jets’ general manager and executive vice president of hockey operations since 2011 when the Jets returned to Winnipeg. The 55-year old Cheveldayoff was a finalist for this award in the 2017-18 season. This regular season, the Jets were nothing short of spectacular, winning their 1st ever Presidents’ Trophy. The Central Division leaders finished the season 56-22-4, their best regular season in franchise history.

The 1st offseason move from last season for Cheveldayoff was the hiring (via promotion) of head coach Scott Arniel. Cheveldayoff knew what he had in Arniel, and he became the 1st head coach to win his first 8 games with his team as the bench boss. The Jets took things one step further, becoming the 1st team ever to begin the season 15-1-0. Connor Hellebuyck and Eric Comrie combined to allow the fewest goals for a team this season. Several key players hit major milestones, and it was overall a season with a lot of highs for this Jets team.

Cheveldayoff was criticized prior to this season for not making any significant roster additions, while losing Brenden Dillon, Nate Schmidt, Tyler Toffoli and Sean Monahan. Despite an “unideal” free agency, the core of this team was there when the team needed them the most. Cheveldayoff took a “cautious” approach at the trade deadline, acquiring Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev. The Jets lost in 6 games to the Dallas Stars in a hard fought 2nd round, and now the attention has turned to what should be a busy off-season for Cheveldayoff and the Jets.

One of the top priorities for the Jets will be to attempt to re-sign UFA Nikolaj Ehlers. Cheveldayoff, during the season media availability, mentioned that he has made his pitch to Ehlers’ camp for him to be a “Jet for life”. Ehlers would be very difficult to replace, and he’s currently getting ready to play in the IIHF World Championship semi finals against teammate Nino Niederreiter and Switzerland after an improbable Quarterfinal upset win over Canada.

Cheveldayoff emphasized during his season ending media availability on Wednesday that there is “still work to do” in order to be ready to compete for a Stanley Cup Championship. Cheveldayoff and the Jets organization will soon get to work this off-season, but the news of being named a finalist for this award is a nice reminder of the season the Jets just completed. Alongside Cheveldayoff, Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers are the other two finalists for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award.