Rick Tocchet, Rick Bowness, Andrew Brunette Named 2024 NHL Jack Adams Award Finalists

Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks, Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets and Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators were named finalists for the 2024 NHL Jack Adams Award on Friday, according to ESPN's Kristen Shilton.

The Jack Adams Award is the NHL's version of a Coach of the Year Award, and all three finalists made a strong case for themselves during the regular season.

Tocchet, Bowness and Brunette each led their respective teams to playoff berths during the 2023-24 campaign.

Of the three finalists, two of them took their teams from missing the playoffs in 2022-23 to reaching the postseason in 2023-24.

Among them is the 60-year-old Tocchet, who is in the midst of his first full season as Vancouver's head coach after previous stints as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Arizona Coyotes.

Last season, Tocchet replaced Bruce Boudreau as head coach of the Canucks with 36 games remaining, and he went 20-12-4 down the stretch.

The positive momentum carried over to this season with Vancouver going 50-23-9 for 109 points. The Canucks won the Pacific Division and had the third-most points in the Western Conference.

Vancouver finished in the top seven in both goals for and goals against this season, while J.T. Miller, Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson all had 89 or more points.

Brunette was the Panthers' interim head coach in 2021-22 before spending the following season as an assistant with the New Jersey Devils. This season in Nashville represented his first opportunity to be a full-time NHL head coach.

The Predators missed the playoffs last season with 92 points, but Brunette helped them accrue 99 points this season with a 47-30-5 record, which was good for a playoff berth.

Tocchet's Canucks and Brunette's Predators are currently doing battle in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, and Vancouver holds a 3-2 series lead.

Bowness has been the Jets' head coach for two seasons, and he got them to the playoffs in back-to-back campaigns.

Winnipeg was the last team in last season with 95 points, but this season they went 52-24-6 for 109 points, which was good for second in the Central Division and the Western Conference as a whole.

Bowness' defensive coaching style paid dividends, as the Jets led the NHL with only 199 goals allowed.

That helped make goalie Connor Hellebuyck a Vezina Trophy finalist, as he went 37-19-4 with a 2.39 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and five shutouts.

However, the Jets suffered a first-round playoff exit for the second consecutive year, as the Colorado Avalanche eliminated them in five games.

The winner of the Jack Adams Award and other honors will be revealed at the NHL awards show following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup playoffs.