Early on Tuesday morning, news broke that Doug Armstrong would be stepping down from his position with Hockey Canada as general manager (GM) of their senior men’s hockey team. Armstrong has had a long history with Hockey Canada and its senior program, dating back to 2002, when he was the assistant general manager of Canada’s World Championship team.
His most notable highlights in the program were serving as assistant general manager for both the 2010 and 2014 gold medal-winning Canadian teams, GM of the championship-winning 2016 World Cup of Hockey Canadian team, and GM of the 2025 4 Nations-winning Canadian team. Now, Hockey Canada has to hire their next GM for the senior men’s program, and they have several interesting options at their disposal.
Julien BriseBois
A new member of the senior program, Julien BriseBois, has had an incredible amount of success at both the NHL and international levels. On the NHL side of things, BriseBois and his Tampa Bay Lightning team were once looked at as the pinnacle of success in the NHL. The club went to three straight Stanley Cup Finals between 2020 and 2022 and won two of them. Although many look at those teams as Steve Yzerman’s players, BriseBois was the GM who got them over the finish line by bringing in crucial players that helped Tampa Bay finally win a Stanley Cup.
Related: Where Are They Now? The 2010 Canadian Olympic Hockey Team
On the international side, BriseBois skipped many positions and was given the assistant GM job by Armstrong for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. He was a big part of bringing together that group of Canadians who eventually went on to win the championship and earn another men’s trophy back to Canada. BriseBois was also the assistant GM for the recent Winter Olympic silver medal.
BriseBois has shown that he has a very recent history of putting together a modern championship-winning team, and that is what Hockey Canada will want. They, as an organization, want to be back at the top of the men’s program after the recent loss to the USA at the Olympics. BriseBois will help them do that; he knows what it takes to be a champion and knows the type of players you will need to be the best among your peers. With a younger viewpoint on the sport, he also sees where international hockey is going and how important speed and youth are to win games. With the resume he has at such a young age, he should be a prime contender to fill in for Armstrong.
Kyle Dubas
Another one of the newest members of the Canadian hockey executive brotherhood, Dubas has quietly entered Hockey Canada’s radar since joining the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023. Since the 2023-24 hockey season, Dubas has been a part of many different Hockey Canada teams. In the spring of 2024, he was the assistant GM of Canada’s World Championship team and was given the role of GM the following season in 2025.
Sadly, neither Canadian team brought home any hardware, with the 2025 team being especially shocking, as Dubas had certain players like Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and Macklin Celebrini participate in the tournament. Along with his World Championship participation, Dubas was also the director of player personnel for both the 2025 4 Nations and the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Although Dubas’ recent executive participation in Hockey Canada teams has not resulted in overwhelming success, he has built relationships within the program and has a chance at this job. With the way that the international game is going, as speed and puck control seem to be the key to victory in IIHF events, Dubas could build a very good team if given the keys to the program. All of Dubas’ teams, going back to his time with the Maple Leafs, always wanted to stress the importance of having speed through the neutral zone and players who can move the puck.
Especially on the defensive end, as Dubas wants defenders to either gain the offensive zone on their own or exit the defensive zone quickly with a good first pass that gets the puck up to the forwards. Quinn Hughes and Zach Werenski were a big reason why Team USA had so much success in the Olympics, because those two players moved the puck so effortlessly and swiftly to their wingers or even simply just on their own.
Dubas is known for loving that style of hockey, and that style looks to be the way to go at the international men’s level. The jump from director of player personnel to GM is a big one, but Dubas’ name should be in the conversation for this new job.
Kent Hughes
Now we are going way out of left field. Kent Hughes has no previous experience with Hockey Canada. He has not had any executive role with the organization as either a GM, scout, advisor, or anything. But that doesn’t mean that he should not be considered for the position. In his nearly five seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, Hughes has put together a team that will be very strong in very short order. Montreal’s offence is currently one of the top units in the NHL because Hughes has assembled an amazing forward core with the players he has acquired. What if he were given the chance to pick whatever Canadian player from the NHL to assemble a team?
Hughes came into his job with the Canadiens as the franchise was bordering on becoming rudderless, and he brought them back on course, where they look to be challenging for the playoffs every season now. If Hughes is given the GM job with Hockey Canada, he won’t have to re-tool a franchise, but put together a true team, which he has done in Montreal.
Once Crosby went down in the Olympics, several players on the Canadian team failed to find a role. Hughes’ past has shown that he is great at building teams that won’t sink if a major piece goes down. To get Canada back on top, the group needs to truly become a team and not just hope that McDavid, Celebrini, or MacKinnon score as they did in Milan. Everyone needs to chip in, and I think Hughes can build a team like that. At the very least, he needs to be a part of Hockey Canada management in some capacity for the 2028 World Cup.
Hockey Canada has several different options to replace Armstrong, but I believe they need a modern GM, someone who can pick players for the modern international game. Canada wants to get back on top of the hockey world, and this has to be their next step in the process of being the best again.
