Dan Muse hired as next Penguins head coach

Well that’s a candidate not many were expecting to rise to the top

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman wrote on Wednesday afternoon there is growing momentum for Dan Muse to be named the next head coach of the Penguins.

Muse, 42, has been an assistant with the New York Rangers for the last two seasons. Prior to that he spent three seasons as an assistant in Nashville and had earlier stops in the USHL and NCAA hockey in a coaching career that dates back to 2007-08.

Perhaps of most interest is Muse’s background in player development. Muse was the head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team in 2021 and 2023, leading the team to a gold medal in 2023 at the IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship.

He coach at USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (NTDP), achieving a 43-13-0 record with the Under-18 team in the 2022-23 season, setting a single-season win record against NCAA opponents. That USNTDP team contained several future first round picks like Will Smith. Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perreault, Oliver Moore and Cole Eiserman. Muse’s work with the American team also had him in proximity to Rutger McGroarty, captain of one of Muse’s successful squads.

Most of the focus and speculation has been around Washington assistant Mitch Love and Los Angeles assistant DJ Smith but it looks like late in the process that Muse has come towards the top.

Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas did not meet his soft target of a June 1 hiring but there’s still plenty of time to get a new coach onboarded for the important aspects of the off-season as far as pro scouting to identify possible trade or free agent possibilities, limited draft responsibilities and starting to get setup and go with what likely will be a new staff ahead of training camp in September.

There’s been no official announcement from the team just yet as they may be wrapping up the details and finalizing the transaction so we’ll see how this develops from here. But the Pens may have gotten their guy — even if it ended up being one that wasn’t often mentioned during the process.

Update: Well that didn’t take long, Dan Muse is the new Penguin head coach

Muse was in charge of the NYR penalty kill, a group that finished 11th in the NHL with a 80.2% success rate in 2024-25 and 3rd the year before in 2023-24.

From a team release:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have named Dan Muse the 23rd head coach in franchise history, it was announced today by President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas.

“During this process, we met with many candidates who we felt would have been a fit as the next head coach of the Penguins, but ultimately, Dan Muse stood out as the best choice. 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,” said Dubas. “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.”

“Additionally, his leadership of special teams units at the NHL level in both Nashville and New York produced elite results consistently. 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. We’re excited to welcome Dan, and his family, to the city of Pittsburgh.”

Muse, 42, joins the Penguins with 20 years of coaching experience, including five seasons in the NHL as an assistant coach with the New York Rangers (2023-25) and Nashville Predators (2017-20). Muse helped guide his teams to three divisional titles (Nashville in 2017-18 and ’18-19; New York in 2023-24), as well as two President’s Trophies during his five seasons in the NHL, with Nashville and New York achieving the feat in 2017-18 and ‘23-24, respectively.

As part of his duties, Muse ran Nashville’s penalty killing unit, which ranked fourth overall in the NHL over his two full seasons (2017-19) with the club. He assumed the same role with New York from 2023-25, helping the Rangers’ penalty kill to the fourth-highest PK success rate and second-best net penalty killing percentage in that span.

A native of Canton, Massachusetts, Muse has won championships at the NCAA, USHL, and IIHF U18 and U20 level.

Muse began his coaching career at the collegiate level, primarily spending six seasons with Yale University as an assistant coach (2009-14) and associate head coach (2015), helping the Bulldogs to the National Championship in 2013. Prior to Yale, he spent one season at Sacred Heart University (2008-09) and Williams College (2007-08) after beginning his coaching career at Milton Academy in 2005.

Following his time at the NCAA level, Muse served as the head coach of the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League from 2015-17. During the 2016-17 season, Muse led Chicago to the top record in the Eastern Conference and third-best record in the USHL en route to the franchise’s first-ever Clark Cup Championship.

Muse has substantial experience with USA Hockey, serving as a head coach at the National Team Development Program from 2020-23. Muse served as the head coach of the Under-18 Team in 2020-21 and ’22-23, leading the squad to the gold medal at the 2023 World Under-18 Championship. That season, the team set a single-season NTDP record with 16 wins over NCAA opponents during the regular season under Muse’s leadership. He spent the ’21-22 season as the head coach of the Under-17 Team. Throughout his three years with the Program, Muse coached the likes of forwards Rutger McGroarty, Ryan Leonard and Will Smith as well as defensemen Zeev Buium and Luke Hughes during their development stages.

Additionally on the international stage, Muse served as the video coach at two World Junior Championships (2013, ’14), winning a gold medal in 2013.

Muse graduated from Stonehill College in 2005 where he enjoyed a four-year playing career before moving into coaching. He and his wife, Maureen, have four children–Fiona, Niamh, Kieran and Honora.