Dave Hakstol of the Seattle Kraken, Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins and Lindy Ruff of the New Jersey Devils were named finalists for the Jack Adams Award on Friday.
The award is given annually to the NHL coach who has “contributed the most to the success of his team”, as voted by the National Association of Broadcasters, and the winner will be announced as part of the 2023 NHL Awards at the Bridgestone. Nashville Arena. June 26 (8 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS).
Hakstol, 54, led the Kraken (46-28-8) to a Stanley Cup Playoff berth in their second NHL season as the Western Conference’s No. 1 wild card. Seattle improved 19 wins and 40 points (60-100) since its inaugural season and ranked in the top five in shots against per game (27.0, second), goals per game (3.52 , tied for fourth) and 5-on-5 shot attempts (401, fifth).
Hakstol is a first-time finalist for the award.
Montgomery, 53, who was hired by Boston on June 30 to replace Bruce Cassidy, guided the Bruins to the most wins (65) and points (135) in a single season in NHL history. Boston, which won the Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular season record (65-12-5), had an .823 point percentage and a goal differential of over 128, ranked first in goals against per game ( 2.12) and penalty-elimination percentage (87.3) and was second in goals per game (3.66) and 12th in power play (22.2%). Eleven players scored at least 10 goals for the Bruins during the regular season, led by To David Pastrwho had an NHL career high of 61.
Montgomery is also a first-time finalist. He would be the fifth Bruins coach to win the award and the first since Cassidy in 2019-20.
Ruff, 63, guided the Devils (52-22-8) to their most wins and points (112) in a season, and third place in the NHL standings. It was an improvement of 25 wins and 49 points from last season, when they ranked 28th in the standings. New Jersey tied Seattle for fourth in the league in goals per game (3.52), tied for fourth with the Calgary Flames shorthanded (82.6%) and finished eighth in goals against per game (2.71). The Devils were tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for fourth in shots per game (34.4) and fifth in shots against per game (28.2). The 28 road wins were a Devils record, and their 11-game road winning streak from Oct. 20 to Dec. 20. 3 was the second longest in NHL history.
A four-time runner-up, Ruff won the Jack Adams in 2005-06 with the Buffalo Sabres, was second in 2006-07 with the Sabers and third in 2015-16 with the Dallas Stars. He ranks fifth in NHL history in games (1,713) and wins (834), and would be the second Devils coach to win the award (Jacques Lemaire, 1993-94).
Darryl Sutter won the Jack Adams with the Calgary Flames last season.
