Botterill, Francis, Hextall to select Canada's roster for worlds

Jason Botterill, Ron Francis, and Ron Hextall will form Canada's management team for the upcoming 2019 IIHF World Championship, Hockey Canada announced Tuesday.

Botterill, the only one of the three who's currently employed by an NHL team, has been the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres since May 2017. He previously served as an associate GM with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Francis served as the GM of the Carolina Hurricanes for four years until the end of last season. He can largely be credited with building a squad on the verge of snapping a nine-year playoff drought.

Hextall was GM of the Philadelphia Flyers for four years before he was fired this past November. He was the GM of Canada's silver-medal winning team at the 2017 World Championship.

The 2019 World Championship will be held in Bratislava, Slovakia from May 10-26. Canada finished fourth at last year's tournament.