Jason Deskins/Ryan Kosecki (Youngstown Phantoms), Tony Gasparini (Sioux Falls Stampede), and Pat McCadden (Green Bay Gamblers) have been named finalists for United States Hockey League (USHL) General Manager of the Year, the league announced Saturday.
 

The award winner will be announced on Thursday, April 23. The finalists were nominated and voted upon by team general managers.
 

As co-General Managers, Jason Deskins and Ryan Kosecki assembled an Anderson Cup-winning roster with a trio of NHL draft picks in the league’s second-highest point producer Cooper Simpson (BOS), who played last year in Tri-City, returner Ryan Rucinski (BUF), and a midseason acquisition in Matouš Kucharcík (BUF). The older foundation was supported by young, elite talent, players, including projected 2026 NHL Draft selections Jack Hextall, Tobias Trejbal, and Evan Jardine. Hextall signed a tender agreement with Youngstown in 2024, Trejbal joined this season from his home country, Czechia, for his first year in North America, and Jardine was selected 72nd overall in the 2023 Phase I USHL Draft. Malachi McKinnon finished fifth in Phantoms scoring after being acquired from the Fargo Force in the offseason. Simpson, Rucinski, Jardine, and Hextall finished among the top 20 in USHL scoring, giving Youngstown twice as many players with more than 55 points as any other USHL team. Coach of the Year finalist, Ryan Ward, guided the Phantoms to their second regular-season title in team history, posting a 43-14-3-2 (W-L-OTL-SOL) record and a league-leading .734 winning percentage.
 

The Stampede finished at the top of the Western Conference with a well-balanced roster that featured a veteran presence, an injection of offense, and tremendous goaltending, finishing 43-16-3-0. Thomas Zocco, an offseason add, and Logan Renkowski, a returner, were the top scorers for the Stampede, but it was their well-rounded attack that put them in an elite class. Brent Solomon (DET) posted 53 points in his first USHL season, while 2026 NHL Draft prospect Cooper Soller and 17-year-old defenseman Jake Prunty had 49 and 37-point seasons, respectively. Solomon and Soller were drafted by Sioux Falls in 2024, and Prunty joined the Herd to make an immediate impact after being picked in last year’s Phase I Draft. In net, Gasparini’s selection of Lindards Feldbergs in the 12th round of the Phase II Draft paid dividends as the Latvian goalie posted a league-best 35 wins to pair with a 2.51 goals against average and .910 save percentage. Sioux Falls also made in-season acquisitions to bolster its roster, adding Tobias Öhman from the Chicago Steel and Brock Schultz from the Waterloo Black Hawks, among others, in preparation for a playoff run.
 

As General Manager and Head Coach, Pat McCadden led the Gamblers to a third-place finish in the Eastern Conference with a 38-18-4-2 record. With a trio of NHL draft picks in Maceo Phillips (CGY), who formerly played with the NTDP, David Rosíval (NJD), and William Samuelsson (DAL), and a pair of offensively inclined top 2026 NHL Draft prospects in Landon Hafele, who also played with the NTDP, and Zach Wooten, who led the team in scoring and was more than a point-per-game player, the Gamblers were flipped the script from the 2024-25 season when they finished below .500 and slipped into the last playoff spot with a 27-31-2-2 mark. Leo Henriquez, who played only 19 games for the Gamblers last season, went 21-9-2-2 with the league’s best save percentage (.921) and second-best goals-against average (2.22). Returners Geno Carcone, Elliott Gulley, and Andrew O’Sullivan all finished among the top five in team scoring. In his first USHL season after playing 18U AAA last year, Gavin Katz finished second in team scoring. Throughout the year, the McCadden made small moves to add depth to his roster, acquiring Ethan Drabicki from the Muskegon Lumberjacks, as well as Chase Jette and Morgan Brady from the Waterloo Black Hawks.