Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks, Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators, and Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets are this season's finalists for the Jack Adams Award, which the NHL hands out annually to its top head coach.
Tocchet, a first-time finalist, led the Canucks to the Pacific Division title in his first full campaign behind their bench after replacing Bruce Boudreau in 2022-23. Vancouver went 50-23-9, earning 12 more wins than it notched one season prior and reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20.
Brunette guided the Predators to a remarkable midseason turnaround in which they went on a 14-0-2 run after the bench boss and Preds general manager Barry Trotz prohibited the players from attending a U2 concert at Las Vegas' Sphere in February.
Bowness helped the Jets finish second in the Central Division at 52-24-6. Under his stewardship, Winnipeg improved by six victories over the previous campaign after buying out ex-captain Blake Wheeler and trading Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings for a package including Gabriel Vilardi.
This past campaign was the 69-year-old's 14th as a head coach and 36th as either a head coach or assistant. But this is the first time he's been a Jack Adams finalist.
Brunette was the runner-up in 2021-22 while with the Florida Panthers. However, they fired him upon losing in the second round of the playoffs after winning the Presidents' Trophy thanks to their regular-season dominance.
“It’s a tremendous honor (to be a finalist)," Brunette said Friday, according to NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. "Last time it didn’t go quite as well. I think I lost my job a little while later, so I don't know how to take it anymore.”
Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery took home this award last season. The NHL Broadcasters' Association votes to determine the winner.
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