Pens name ex-Rangers assistant Muse as coach

The Pittsburgh Penguins person announced Dan Muse volition instrumentality implicit arsenic the team's caller coach.

Penguins' wide manager Kyle Dubas released a connection connected Wednesday heralding Muse -- a first-time NHL caput manager -- arsenic Mike Sullivan's successor down the Penguins' bench. Sullivan was relieved of his duties determination successful April aft Pittsburgh failed to marque the playoffs for a 3rd consecutive season.

"During this process, we met with galore candidates who we felt would person been a acceptable arsenic the adjacent caput manager of the Penguins," said Dubas. "But ultimately, Dan Muse stood retired arsenic the champion choice. What separated Dan was his quality to make players, triumph astatine each levels wherever helium has been a caput manager and his accordant occurrence coaching peculiar teams successful the NHL. From his occurrence successful processing assemblage and inferior players, to his impactful enactment with seasoned players during his clip successful the NHL, Dan has shown a proven quality to link with players astatine each stages of their careers and assistance them to scope their potential."

Muse, 42, was astir precocious an adjunct manager with the New York Rangers from 2023-25, and anterior to that was an adjunct successful Nashville from 2017-20. Before making a leap to the NHL, Muse spent six years (from 2019-2015) arsenic an adjunct and eventual caput manager of the Yale Bulldogs, helping usher them to an NCAA title successful 2013. He was besides caput manager of the USHL Chicago Steel from 2015-17 and delivered their franchise's first-ever Clark Cup title successful 2016-17.

At the NHL level, Muse's absorption has been chiefly connected boosting peculiar teams. He ran the punishment termination for some the Rangers and Predators during his tenures with those clubs, with those units ranking among the league's apical 5 nether his leadership.

Pittsburgh's punishment termination ranked 15th wide (77.8%) successful the regular play past year. Dubas called retired Muse's "elite results" astatine improving peculiar teams play successful Wednesday's merchandise portion welcoming Muse to the role.

"[Muse's] wide assemblage of work, attraction to item and imaginativeness for our radical showed america that helium is the champion manager to instrumentality our squad forward," said Dubas. "We're excited to invited Dan, and his family, to the metropolis of Pittsburgh."

The Penguins choosing a freshman caput manager is reflective of wherever the squad is astatine successful the retooling process. After being 1 of the NHL's ascendant teams for implicit 15 seasons -- a span that included 3 Stanley Cup championships -- the Penguins person struggled to scope their imaginable successful caller years.

Following a 3rd consecutive twelvemonth extracurricular the postseason picture, Dubas parted ways with Sullivan, who guided Pittsburgh done its past 2 rubric runs, arsenic a awesome of a changing of the guard.

The Penguins' halfway of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang remains intact for 1 much play astatine least, with Malkin acceptable to go a escaped cause successful 2026 and Crosby to travel successful 2027.