Voting for this award was conducted among the 30 Club General Managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. The winner will be announced during the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, with more detail on format to be released at a later date.

Following are the finalists, in alphabetical order, for NHL General Manager of the Year:

Marc Bergevin, Montreal Canadiens

Under the direction of Bergevin, in his first season as an NHL general manager, the Canadiens were the NHL's most improved club. After finishing fifth in the Northeast Division and 28th in the overall League standings in 2011-12, the Canadiens (29-14-5) rallied to clinch the Northeast title and the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed on the final day of the 2012-13 season. Bergevin hired Michel Therrien as head coach for his second stint behind the Canadiens’ bench; selected C Alex Galchenyuk with the third overall selection in the 2012 NHL Draft; strengthened the roster with summer signings D Francis Bouillon, LW Brandon Prust and RW Colby Armstrong; and acquired RW Michael Ryder in a midseason trade.

Bob Murray, Anaheim Ducks

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 with a club-record points percentage (.688, 30-12-6). He strengthened Anaheim's goaltending by signing Sweden native Viktor Fasth as a free agent last May. Fasth went 15-6-2 with a 2.18 GAA, .921 save percentage and four shutouts in his debut season in North America. Murray also bolstered the defense corps with the offseason signings of Sheldon Souray and Bryan Allen and midseason trade for Ben Lovejoy. In addition, he enticed forward Teemu Selanne to return for a 20th NHL season and signed forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry to eight-year contract extensions.

Ray Shero, Pittsburgh Penguins

Shero made key additions to an already-strong roster throughout the year that helped propel the Penguins (36-12-0) to a playoff berth for the seventh consecutive season, their first Atlantic Division title since 2008 and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. He obtained center Brandon Sutter and goaltender Tomas Vokoun in offseason trades and later brought RW Jarome Iginla, LW Brenden Morrow, C Jussi Jokinen and D Douglas Murray to Pittsburgh in deals leading up to the trade deadline. Pittsburgh reeled off 15 consecutive victories from March 2-30, the second-longest winning streak in NHL history and the League’s longest winning streak in 20 years.