He will be joined by former NHL GMs Ron Francis and Ron Hextall. The tournament will be held in Kosice and Bratislava, Slovakia, from May 10-26.
Botterill, in his second year as GM of the Sabres, was a three-time gold medal winner for Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship (1994, 1995, 1996). Prior to joining the Sabres, he spent 10 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, helping them win the Stanley Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017.
Francis spent 12 seasons working for the Carolina Hurricanes, including as general manager from 2014 until March 7, 2018. He was co-GM for Canada at the 2018 Spengler Cup. Named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in 2017, Francis is second in League history in assists (1,249), fourth in games played (1,731) and fifth in points (1,798), and he won the Stanley Cup twice with the Penguins (1991, 1992) during his 23-season NHL career. He also helped Canada win the silver medal at the 1985 Worlds.
Hextall was in his fifth season as GM of the Philadelphia Flyers when he was fired Nov. 26. He was GM for Canada at the 2017 World Championship and part of the management group at the 2014 Worlds. In addition to helping the Flyers reach the Stanley Cup Final twice (1987, 1997) during his 13-season NHL career, he also played for Canada at the 1992 Worlds.
"We are excited to welcome these three gentlemen and their extensive experience in the NHL and international hockey, both as general managers and players," Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney said. "We know Jason, Ron and Ron will represent our country with a tremendous amount of pride, and we look forward to working with this group as we set our sights on bringing home a gold medal at the 2019 IIHF World Championship."
Canada, which is in Group A for the preliminary round, plays its first game of the tournament on May 10 against Finland at Steel Arena in Kosice. Also in Group A are the United States, Germany, Slovakia, Denmark, France and Great Britain. Group B, which will play in Bratislava, consists of Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Latvia, Norway, Austria and Italy.
Canada finished fourth at the 2018 Worlds, losing 4-1 to the U.S. in the bronze-medal game. Sweden won the gold medal, 3-2 in a shootout against Switzerland.
Chris Drury, assistant general manager of the New York Rangers, was
named GM for the U.S. on March 20
.
