Avalanche's Sakic wins GM of the Year Award

Colorado Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic took home the 2021-22 Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award, the league announced Thursday during Round 1 of the 2022 NHL Draft.

Sakic beat out the Tampa Bay Lightning's Julien BriseBois and the New York Rangers' Chris Drury for the honor.

The award is voted on by the league's 32 general managers, a panel of NHL executives, and the media after the second round of the playoffs.

Sakic earned the lion's share of the first-place votes and appeared on 29 out of 42 ballots. Here are the full results:

Final voting tally for the Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award pic.twitter.com/DecFxsaPKE

- Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 8, 2022

Sakic has been general manager of the Avalanche since 2013. He helped guide Colorado to a first-place finish atop the Western Conference in 2021-22 thanks to a franchise-best record of 56-19-7.

The 53-year-old made a couple of key acquisitions that contributed to the Avalanche's success. He traded for Darcy Kuemper last July and added defenseman Josh Manson and forward Artturi Lehkonen at the trade deadline.

Lehkonen led the team with four game-winning goals in the playoffs, while Manson chipped in with one of his own. Kuemper, meanwhile, logged a sterling .921 save percentage in 57 regular-season appearances.

New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello received the award in back-to-back years in 2020 and 2021.

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