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The USA World Juniors are searching for a new bench boss. After back-to-back tournaments of winning the gold medal, former head coach David Carle stepped down from the position on Thursday.
The news was announced several days ago and has created plenty of speculation and rumors on who could fill his role for the 2026 tournament.
On Monday's episode of Sportsnet's "32 Thoughts: The Podcast," Elliotte Friedman named the University of Minnesota head coach, Bob Motzko, who earns $750,000 per season (per Star Tribune), as a potential candidate to coach Team USA.
"I don't think that's determined, but the person said to me, but we are thinking that Team USA is going to take a long look at Bob Motzko, and he is the coach at the University of Minnesota," Friedman said.
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"I don't know when or if they're going to formalize this or what the schedule is, but there's a lot, and the tournament next year is in Minnesota, so it makes even more sense. However, there are a lot of eyes on him as a potential step-up for David Carle."
In his first six seasons as University of Minnesota's coach, Motzko had a 136-71-17 record. Before that, he spent 13 seasons as head coach at St. Cloud State University, where he went 276-192-49.
Former USA World Juniors head coach could have a future behind the bench in NHL
Former USA World Juniors head coach David Carle has garnered a lot of attention for his dominance behind the bench. Not only has he won back-to-back gold medals at the World Juniors, but he's also led the University of Denver to NCAA championships in 2021-22 and 2023-24.
He's built up an impressive resume in a short period of time. At just 35 years old, you have to imagine that NHL teams will come calling for his services.
Carle's ability to coach young players and help them reach their potential is evident. NHL teams with top young talent, like the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, and San Jose Sharks, are among the many teams that will be interested.
The USA World Juniors have a massive void to fill David Carle's shoes.
