Florida Panthers assistant GM Brett Peterson will serve as the U.S. Men’s National Team’s GM at the 2026 IIHF World Championships for the second time.
Florida Panthers assistant GM Brett Peterson has been named general manager of the U.S. Men’s National Team at the 2026 IIHF World Championships.
The 44-year-old has been with the Panthers as their assistant GM since the 2020-21 season, winning two Stanley Cups with the Panthers.
This will be the second time Peterson has served as GM of Team USA at the World Championship, having done so in 2024. Peterson worked as an assistant GM at last year’s World Championship when Team USA won gold for the first time since 1933.
“We’re really excited to have Brett back,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. “He’s done a great job at Florida, including helping the Panthers to Stanley Cup titles the last two years, and he has a really good handle on our overall player pool as we look to build a team that can compete to defend the gold medal we won a year ago.”
Supporting Peterson in the player selection process will be the U.S. Men’s National Team Advisory Group, a collection of NHL general managers and hockey operations executives that includes Stan Bowman (Edmonton Oilers), Craig Conroy (Calgary Flames), Chris Drury (New York Rangers), Tom Fitzgerald (New Jersey Devils), Mike Grier (San Jose Sharks), Bill Guerin (Minnesota Wild), Chris MacFarland (Colorado Avalanche), Chris Patrick (Washington Capitals), Eric Tulsky (Carolina Hurricanes), Don Waddell (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Bill Zito (Florida Panthers).
The IIHF Men's World Championship begins on May 15 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.