Colorado Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Avalanches' Joe Sakic named GM of the Year

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated Jul 7, 2022 10:08 PM ET

Joe Sakic, the architect of the 2021-22 Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, was voted the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year at the NHL Draft in Montreal on Thursday.

Sakic received the most first-place votes out of any GM with 109. Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois finished second with 12 first-place votes.

The award voting was a two-horse race, as no other NHL GM received more than four first-place votes.

"It's a huge honor, the Jim Gregory Award," Sakic said. "I'm truly grateful. I want to thank all my fellow general managers for this; it's just a pleasure being in the fraternity, and I'm really proud of this award."

The Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award goes to Joe Sakic for leading the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup title this year pic.twitter.com/KrEaJs1YLs
— ESPN (@espn) July 8, 2022

Sakic pushed all the right buttons when constructing this year's Avalanche team.

Ahead of the season, he acquired goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who helped man the pipes throughout Colorado's run to the Stanley Cup.

Sakic made several moves at the trade deadline, acquiring defenseman Josh Manson and forwards Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Cogliano.

New York Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello was the reigning GM of the Year, winning the award in 2020-21 and 2019-20.

Sakic, a hockey Hall of Famer, played 20 seasons with the Quebec Nordics/Colorado Avalanche organization.

He joined the front office in Colorado in 2011 and was promoted to executive vice president and General Manager in 2013.

Mike Santa Barbara

Mike Santa Barbara is a Wilmington, Delaware native (Yes, it's a real place) with over a decade of sports writing experience. A diehard Philadelphia sports fan, he has two dogs named after Flyers and cried real tears when the Eagles won Super Bowl LII. You can follow him on Twitter at @mike__sb

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