U.S. National Junior Team Coaching and Support Personnel Confirmed
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Dan Bylsma (Grand Haven, Mich.), Tom Ward (Richfield, Minn./Shattuck-St. Mary’s) and Jared DeMichiel (Harwinton, Conn./Michigan State University) have been appointed as assistant coaches for the 2027 U.S. National Junior Team, as announced by USA Hockey today. Furthermore, David Lassonde (Durham, N.H./USA Hockey) will take on the role of goaltending coach, while Brent Darnell (Livonia, Mich./Boston College) and Nick Siergiej (South Bend, Ind./University of Notre Dame) have been selected as video coaches.
This team will collaborate with Adam Nightingale (Cheboygan, Mich./Michigan State University), who has already been appointed as the head coach of the 2027 U.S. National Junior Team.
2027 World Juniors
The U.S. National Junior Team is scheduled to compete in the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship, which will take place from December 26, 2026, to January 5, 2027, in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.
U.S. NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM SUPPORT STAFF NAMED
Alongside the coaching staff, the support personnel for the 2027 U.S. National Junior Team will feature USA Hockey’s assistant executive director of hockey operations and general manager John Vanbiesbrouck (Detroit, Mich.); equipment managers Patrick Dooley (Berkley, Mich./University of Notre Dame), Brock Bradley (West Stockholm, N.Y./USA Hockey) and Scott Aldrich (Hancock, Mich./USA Hockey); athletic trainers Stan Wong (Boca Raton, Fla./USA Hockey) and Dennis McDonald (Detroit, Mich./USA Hockey); team services manager Jessica Thibault (Guilford, Conn./University of Notre Dame); strength and conditioning coach Will Morlock (Grand Haven, Mich./Michigan State University); team physician Dr. Charles Popkin (Medina, Minn./USA Hockey); content manager Taylor Swierc (Colorado Springs, Colo./USA Hockey); and media officer Francis Forte (Independence Township, N.J./USA Hockey).
ABOUT BYLSMA
Dan Bylsma will represent the United States as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship, following his previous role as head coach of the 2014 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team and as an assistant coach for the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team.
Most recently, he served as the head coach of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken (2024-25) and has also held head coaching positions with the Buffalo Sabres (2015-17) and Pittsburgh Penguins (2009-14), where he secured a Stanley Cup in 2009. Bylsma has an NHL head-coaching record of 355-231-61 (W-L-OTL) across 647 regular season games.
Before his tenure with the Kraken, he led the team’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, to consecutive Calder Cup Final appearances (2022-24).
Bylsma’s NHL head coaching career began with the Penguins midway through the 2008-09 season, culminating in a Stanley Cup victory, Pittsburgh’s first since 1992. In each of his first three full seasons with the Penguins, Bylsma’s teams achieved 100-point seasons, highlighted by the 2010-11 season when he received the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s Most Outstanding Coach.
During his six seasons with the Penguins, Bylsma led the team to six consecutive playoff appearances, amassing 252 wins, the highest total ever by a Pittsburgh head coach.
Bylsma joined the Penguins organization in 2006 as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He was promoted to head coach of WBS in 2008-09 before taking over as head coach in Pittsburgh.
His coaching career commenced in 2004 as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, followed by a similar position with the New York Islanders in 2005-06.
As a player, Bylsma spent nine seasons in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings (1995-2000) and Anaheim Ducks (2000-04), accumulating 62 points in 429 games. He played college hockey at Bowling Green State University (1988-92), where he recorded 87 points in 155 games.
ABOUT WARD
Tom Ward will return to Team USA’s bench as an assistant coach for the 2027 U.S. National Junior Team after previously serving in the same capacity on the 2010 and 2012 National Junior Team coaching staff, helping the U.S. secure its second World Junior gold medal in 2010.
Ward is the director of boys hockey and the boys prep head coach at Shattuck-St. Mary’s. His initial tenure at the school began in 1999, and he became the director in 2006. Under his guidance, Shattuck-St. Mary’s has developed into one of the premier programs in the nation, producing numerous NHL and Olympic-level athletes.
The Richfield, Minnesota, native joined the Buffalo Sabres coaching staff in 2016, where he served as an assistant coach for three seasons before returning to Shattuck-St. Mary’s in 2019.
Prior to his time at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Ward spent four years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota (1995-99). His coaching experience also includes a six-year period with the USHL’s St. Paul Vulcans and two seasons with the Richfield High School program in his hometown.
Ward lettered in both ice hockey and baseball at the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1986. He was selected in the ninth round of the NHL draft by the Winnipeg Jets in 1982.
ABOUT DEMICHIEL
Jared DeMichiel, currently the associate head coach for Michigan State University’s ice hockey team, is serving as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship, marking his international debut.
DeMichiel joined MSU in 2022 and has contributed to the Spartans achieving back-to-back Big Ten regular season and tournament titles (2024-25).
He has been instrumental in the development of the team’s goaltenders and defensemen, coaching Trey Augustine during his time in East Lansing, Michigan, to become the winningest goaltender in U.S. National Junior Team history and a two-time gold medalist in 2024 and 2025.
Before his tenure at Michigan State, DeMichiel spent six seasons at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2016-22). He was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach in 2019 and played a key role in UMass winning its first NCAA Division I national championship in 2021. His coaching experience also includes positions as an assistant coach for St. Lawrence University’s men’s hockey team (2014-16) and Nazareth College (2012-14). He began his coaching career as a volunteer goaltending coach at his alma mater, RIT, with the women’s hockey program.
DeMichiel was a prominent goaltender for Rochester Institute of Technology (2006-10). He led the Tigers to an appearance in the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four and topped the nation with 27 victories as a senior. He was honored as the Atlantic Hockey Association’s goaltender of the year (2010) and concluded his collegiate career with three AHA regular season titles and one conference tournament championship.
ABOUT LASSONDE
David Lassonde, the national goaltending coach for USA Hockey, brings over 35 years of coaching experience spanning five decades, including involvement in 18 international events.
Most recently, Lassonde was part of the coaching staff for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team at the 2026 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship and has served as goaltending coach for the gold medal-winning U.S. National Junior Team at both the 2025 and 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships.
He was an assistant coach for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team at the 2023 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship, where Team USA won gold, and was also part of the coaching staff for the silver medal-winning U18 squad in 2022 as well as the 2024 team.
The Durham, New Hampshire, native has also served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Team at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games; four other U.S. National Junior Teams, including the silver medal-winning 2019 squad and gold medal-winning 2013 team; the 2015 championship-winning U.S. Under-17 Select Team; and the U.S. Under-18 Select Team that finished second at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
Lassonde has a 32-year NCAA Division I men’s hockey coaching career that includes positions at Dartmouth College, University of Denver, University of New Hampshire, Miami University, and University of Wisconsin, achieving 20 NCAA Tournament berths, including five appearances in the Men’s Frozen Four. He received the American Hockey Coaches Association Terry Flanagan Award in 2007, recognizing an assistant coach’s career achievements.
ABOUT DARNELL
Brent Darnell will act as a video coach for the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship. He previously held the position of assistant coach for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team at the 2022 and 2023 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championships, contributing to the program’s gold medal in 2023.
Currently an assistant coach with Boston College’s men’s hockey program, Darnell joined the Eagles prior to the 2023-24 season. He previously worked as assistant director of player personnel for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.
Darnell became part of the NTDP in 2019 and spent two seasons (2019-21) as an assistant coach with the Under-17 and Under-18 teams before transitioning to his player personnel role.
A native of Livonia, Michigan, Darnell played four collegiate seasons at Michigan State University (2011-15), participating in 137 career games for the Spartans before graduating in 2015. He played two seasons with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede (2009-11) prior to his collegiate career.
ABOUT SIERGIEJ
Nick Siergiej is serving as a video coach for the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship. His previous experience with Team USA includes video coach roles at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship, where the U.S. earned a bronze medal, the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, and the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Siergiej was the coordinator of hockey operations for the University of Notre Dame for 14 seasons (2008-22) before moving into his current position as assistant athletic director – NIL operations.
Siergiej began his tenure at Notre Dame at the start of the 2008-09 season after three seasons as director of hockey operations at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he managed the Bulldogs’ video responsibilities, including game breakdowns and pre-scouting. He started his career in this role at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, serving as director of hockey operations for the Division III program.
Originally from South Bend, Indiana, Siergiej earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Wisconsin-River Falls in 2006 and a master’s degree in education from Minnesota in 2008.
