The battle for the Jack Adams Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding head coach of the National Hockey League (NHL), will this year be between Gerard Gallant, Darryl Sutter and Andrew Brunette, the circuit said Thursday .

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The first two of this trio of finalists have been leaders in the NHL for several seasons, while Brunette joined the Florida Panthers during the campaign, following the departure of Joel Quenneville. Promoted on an interim basis on October 29, the former player helped his squad finish atop the overall standings, finishing with 58 wins and 122 points. She notably won 13 consecutive games between March 29 and April 23.

A finalist for the award when he was at the helm of the Panthers in 2015-16 and a recipient of the trophy with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18, Gallant guided the New York Rangers to the second tier of the Metropolitan Division. He is the second Blueshirts driver to reach 50 wins in one campaign. No one in the Big Apple team has pocketed this award to date.

For his part, Sutter saw the Calgary Flames take first place in the Pacific Division. The one being on a second spell with the club led his men to 50 triumphs and 111 points. He hopes to emulate Bob Hartley (2014-2015), the only winner of the trophy in franchise history and his brother Brian Sutter, who won it with the St. Louis Blues in 1990-1991.

Determined by the Professional Association of Hockey Writers, the three finalists are still hard at work as their teams struggle in the second round of playoffs. The identity of the winner will be revealed later during the playoffs.