PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dan Muse is the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins hired the former New York Rangers assistant on Wednesday, tasking him with helping the franchise navigate a rebuild during the twilight of longtime captain Sidney Crosby’s career.
Muse replaces Mike Sullivan. Sullivan and the Penguins split in April after a nearly decade-long tenure that included a pair of Stanley Cup titles. The Rangers quickly scooped up Sullivan, naming him their coach in early May.
The 42-year-old Muse was hired after a monthlong search by Penguins general manager and director of hockey operations Kyle Dubas. Muse’s hiring leaves the Boston Bruins as the last of eight teams with offseason head coaching vacancies.
Dubas said the team met with “many candidates” before deciding on Muse, who has spent the last half-decade as an assistant at the NHL level. Muse also has a track record as a cultivator of talent and served as the head coach of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program from 2020-23.
“What separated Dan was his ability to develop players, win at all levels where he has been a head coach and his consistent success coaching special teams in the NHL,” Dubas said. “From his success in developing college and junior players, to his impactful work with veteran players during his time in the NHL, Dan has shown a proven ability to connect with players at all stages of their careers and help them to reach their potential.”
Muse takes over a team in transition. The era defined by franchise icons Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang is closing. One of the league’s marquee teams has missed the playoffs each of the last three seasons following a 16-year run as a fixture in the chase for the Stanley Cup.
Dubas, hired in the summer of 2023 to oversee this transition, has spent most of the last two years stockpiling draft picks. The Penguins have 30 selections over the next three drafts, including 18 over the first three rounds.
While Dubas is likely to use some of the picks to trade for NHL-ready players, he has stressed the club’s need to get younger and that the club’s next core will need to continue to develop once they reach hockey’s highest level, as Crosby, Malkin and Letang did when they reached the league in the mid-to-late 2000s.
Enter Muse, who has been part of coaching staffs that have won titles in the NCAA and United States Hockey League, as well as at the U18 and U20 world championships. When he reached the NHL in 2017 with Nashville, he oversaw a penalty-kill unit that was among the league’s best. He produced similar results when he took over a similar role with the Rangers in 2023.
“His overall body of work, attention to detail and vision for our group showed us that he is the best coach to take our team forward,” Dubas said.
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