Dan Muse introduced as head coach of the Penguins

New coach speaks as member of the Penguins for the first time

Kyle Dubas and the Penguins introduced their new coach today in Pittsburgh. Dan Muse came from almost no where to be named the bench boss of the Pens last week and he had his first opportunity to speak. The whole thing can be viewed here.

Muse was not someone that Dubas knew going into the process but after meeting with him it developed that Muse was someone that was going to be able to develop the players and impressed Dubas with a track record with success from Yale to Nashville to the US National Program’s 2023 gold medal and impact on the penalty kill wit the New York Rangers.

“It became clear he was going to be a great fit to partner with us and help us,” as Dubas put it. The most important qualities came to be Muse’s level of character, work ethic and intelligence.

Muse cited the collaboration with the people within the organization and looked forward to working with the different players at various stages of their careers.

Muse gave a history of his unusual background; as a child he spent time in Alabama and California where there wasn’t much ice. But he loved the sport and kept working and finding ways to become a high school player and a self-proclaimed “bad” D-3 player at Easton, Massachutes’s Stonehill College. From there he has been a video coach, an assistant and then an associate coach and now a head coach.

Muse said the coaching staff will work all summer to come up with a plan for every single player on the team for the start of the season. A focus will be on younger players to determine how they can come in and “make their mark” on the team.

He wants to build in a “step by step process” every day to improve the team.

When asked about the Pens’ historic traditions of being an attacking team, Muse talked about working on both sides of the puck. He will want the team to play with detail and good habits that lead to success, but he wants to attack and have everyone working to score goals.

Muse said the number one topic of his coaching philosophy was relationship based to get to know all of his players to be able to work with them. From there he wants to build in details and habits that lead to success based on the foundation that is built away from the specifics of his system.

Here’s a good short video with that answer.

Dubas used words like adaptive, communicative and that’s the point of hiring a 42-year old first time NHL head coach. The benefits are not getting someone set in their ways or rigid, for better or worse they will have more flexibility.

Madison Nikkel, the team’s video coach, was called “one of the best” at his position by Dubas and will be the lone member of last year’s coaching staff that will definitely be retained. Goalie coach Andy Chiodo is going through the process of the Muse and Dubas deciding if he will stay on next season or if the team will look elsewhere.

Jesse Marshall dropped in some knowledge about Muse’s systems, tactics and changes over the years to give some history of what to expect.

All good stuff, then again everything looks good in an introductory press conference in June. It’s difficult to lose that day. Muse showed well as an intelligent, fresh new voice on his first front-facing day. Now he’ll get to work this summer in a difficult spot to try and breathe life into what has been a fairly hapless squad that lacks a lot of talent and quality depth.

It’s going to be an uphill battle for Muse at the start, but he seems to be entering the picture with clear ideas and a smart determination to make the most of the challenge and the opportunity.