David Poile called it an organizational award, but he deserves as much credit as anyone.
The Predators general manager was named the 2017 NHL General Manager of the Year on Wednesday night at the 2017 NHL Awards at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, winning the award for the first time in his fourth nomination for the honor since its inception in 2010, the most of any GM.
The upcoming campaign will be Poile's 36th as a general manager, making him the longest-serving GM in NHL history, set to move past Jack Adams and Glen Sather. His tenure - dating back to the 1982-83 season with Washington - has spanned 2,625 games and 1,282 wins, ranking him second only to Sather (2,700 games, 1,319 wins).