USA Hockey fills NTDP coaching staff with ex-Lumberjacks assistant CJ Kusch

USA Hockey handed the NTDP two hires with direct USHL consequences on July 2, bringing in former Muskegon Lumberjacks assistant CJ Kusch and Northern Michigan veteran Cam Babiak as assistant coaches for 2026-27. Kusch will work with Kevin Porter and Ryan Hayes on the U.S. National Under-18 Team, while Babiak joins Nick Fohr and Mike Weber with the U.S. National Under-17 Team.

The Kusch hire is the one USHL clubs will study first. He spent six seasons with the Lumberjacks, including five as an assistant after starting as the club’s video coach, then moved to Long Island University for one season. In Muskegon, Kusch helped guide a program that won the 2025 Clark Cup, reached three Eastern Conference Finals and one Clark Cup Final, and produced NCAA players and NHL first-round picks. He handled defensemen, the penalty kill, scouting and roster construction, a mix that makes him a natural fit for a program that lives on detail and daily development.

That background should matter in the NTDP’s style and in the recruiting fight with USHL clubs. A coach who has built a roster, scouted opponents and worked the blue line knows how to push pace without losing structure, and how to turn raw talent into a team that can survive a 33-game USHL slate. With the U17s opening Sept. 11-12 in Anchorage against the Anchorage Wolverines, the program is not easing into the schedule. It is walking straight into league-level games that will expose whether the new staff wants to play heavier, faster, or simply more efficiently than the USHL teams it sees every weekend.

Babiak arrives with a different lane but the same developmental mandate. At Northern Michigan, he served as assistant director of hockey operations and video coach, with responsibilities that included player development, scouting, practice planning and team operations. That should sharpen the NTDP’s day-to-day habits, especially with the U17 group, where the smallest details often separate a future NCAA player from a prospect who gets lost in the middle of the pack.

The staff reset was already taking shape before these hires. Porter was named U18 head coach on May 15 and is the 18th head coach in NTDP history, while Weber was added as U17 associate coach and Hayes was promoted with the U18s on June 26. The schedule makes the stakes plain: the U17s will play 33 USHL games, the U18s 29, and the older team will host 17 of those at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth. USA Hockey says the program’s success is measured by development, not wins and losses, but the 2026 NHL Draft only sharpened the spotlight, with 14 players tied to the NTDP selected over two days, including nine full-time members.