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The NHL announced the nominees for the Jack Adams Award and Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock was named as one of three finalists.
John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Todd McLellan of the Edmonton Oilers were the other selections for the award given for NHL coach of the year.
Babcock, 53, led the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup Final in 2003, 2008 & 2009 and has previously been nominated twice (2008 and 2014) for the Jack Adams, losing to Bruce Boudreau and Patrick Roy.
After finishing in 30th place in the NHL in 2015-16, Babcock led the Maple Leafs to a 40-27-15 record (95 points), good for fourth in the Atlantic Division, with a lineup that included up to eight rookies on many nights.
Tortorella (winner of the Jack Adams in 2004) led the Blue Jackets to their best season since entering the NHL in 2000, setting club records for wins (50) and points (108), and the NHL's longest winning streak of the season at 16 games.
McLellan led Oilers to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Edmonton finished second in the Pacific Division with a 47-26-9 record (103 points).
Babcock and rookie center Auston Matthews will find out if they are winners at the NHL Awards on June 21 in Las Vegas.
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Rookie forward Mitch Marner bucked the trend of Leafs players who either opted out or did not receive clearance to play in the upcoming World Championships.
Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun reported on Wednesday that Marner has accepted an invitation to play for Canada in Paris, France next month.
Marner (who turns 20 on May 5th) scored 19 goals and 42 assists in 77 games for the Maple Leafs in the regular season and four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in six playoff games.
Auston Matthews, Nikita Zaitsev and Frederik Andersen had opportunities to play for their respective countries, but opted out citing fatigue or injuries. Defenseman Morgan Rielly, who played for Canada in the 2016 Worlds in Russia last May,
indicated to Koshan that he would have loved to represent his country, but felt it was in his best interest to recover from a long season.
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