Dan Muse was not a name that showed up on many lists of potential candidates for the Penguins’ head coach position. But Muse, who was an assistant coach for the Rangers this year, will now be leading the Pens.
With 20 years of coaching experience under his belt, Muse has been with the Rangers for two seasons and earlier served as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators. He also has served as assistant coach for college hockey teams at universities such as Yale and Sacred Heart.
In addition, Muse has held head coaching positions with teams such as the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and the Under-17 Team, which coincidentally led to him coaching Penguins prospect Rutger McGroarty.
However, he has never held a head coach position at the NHL level.
Candidates whose names had surfaced regularly in Penguins head coach rumors included Mitch Love, D.J. Smith, and Jay Woodcroft. They were reported to have been in the final rounds of interviews for the Pens job.
But the job went to Muse, who ties former coach Michel Therrien as the second-youngest Penguins head coach at 42 years old.
In essence, the Penguins and New York Rangers have traded members of their coaching staffs. Former Pens Head Coach Mike Sullivan took the top job with the Rangers earlier this spring.
Muse has experience running the penalty killing unit. During his time in Nashville, he ran their penalty kill, which ended up ranking fourth in the NHL two consecutive seasons.
Muse could help improve that area of play for the Penguins, who ended with the eighth-worst penalty kill percentage last season, at 77.8 percent.
His lack of head coaching experience could pose challenges. He will be leading all-star veterans like the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, as well as Erik Karlsson, and they may have certain expectations about what they would like to see from a head coach.
Fans will see how Muse proves himself over the course of the upcoming season.
