Jim Montgomery had his eyes on another prize, but he may have to settle for the Jack Adams Award.

To no one’s surprise, Montgomery was named one of the three finalists for the Adams — given to the top coach in the National Hockey League – in his first year with the Bruins.

Though the B’s historic season ended in early and bitter disappointment, there is little doubt that Montgomery is the favorite for the award after the B’s set the record for wins (65), besting the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning and 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings, and points (135), surpassing the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens.

The B’s also led the league in regulation wins (54), road wins (31) and goal differential (plus-128).

While the season ended far sooner than anyone hoped, the regular season exceeded the expectations of even the most optimistic Bruin fans. Starting the season with Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk all on the shelf after offseason surgeries, the B’s exploded out of the gate, employing Montgomery’s new offensive system in which the defensemen became more active.

Thanks in part to the new aggressive approach, two D-men — McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm — topped the 50-point plateau while David Pastrnak became the first Bruin to reach the 60-goal mark since Phil Esposito in 1974-75. The B’s were second in the league in goals scored (3.67 per game) while leading the league in goals against (2.12). The B’s also led the league in penalty kill (87.3%).

The other two finalists for the award are the New Jersey Devils’ Lindy Ruff and the Seattle Kraken’s Dave Hakstol. The awards winners will be announced the NHL Awads Show on June 26 in Nashville….

The Bruins signed one of their top amateur prospects on Friday, inking center Matthew Poitras to his three-year entry level deal worth an annual NHL cap hit of $870,000, with a minor league salary of $82,500.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Poitras was the B’s second round selection (54th overall) in the 2022 draft. Poitras, 19, had an excellent season with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League, collecting 16-79-95 totals in 63 games, ranking second in the OHL in assists and fifth in points.

It was a big bump up from his draft year in 2021-22, when he had 21-29-50 totals in 68 games….

The B’s brass – CEO Charlie Jacobs, president Cam Neely, GM Don Sweeney and Montgomery – will hold their final post-mortem press conference on Tuesday at Legends in the Garden.