The Pittsburgh Penguins have named Dan Muse of Canton, Massachusetts (coach pictured right) as their new head coach according to the Associated Press on Wednesday. Muse takes over from Mike Sullivan of Marshfield, Massachusetts, who was fired on April 28. Sullivan was not out of a job for long. On May 2, he was named the new head coach of the New York Rangers. This is Muse’s first NHL head coaching job.
Assistant coach with the Rangers
Ironically, Muse was with the Rangers the last two seasons as an assistant coach. You could make the argument that the Rangers and Penguins actually traded coaches.
It was a tale of two completely different seasons for the Rangers. In 2023-24, the Rangers had a great year as they won the Presidents’ Trophy with 114 regular season points and reached the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Florida Panthers in six games. In 2024-25, the Rangers struggled mightily, and shockingly missed the playoffs with only 85 points, 29 fewer points than the previous season.
Muse’s focus with the Rangers was the penalty kill. The Rangers had the 11th best penalty killing at 80.33%.
Who has Muse also coached?
Muse was an assistant coach for the Nashville Predators from 2017 to 2020. In an interesting note, Muse worked with head coach Peter Laviolette of Franklin, Massachusetts in New York and Nashville. Muse was also an assistant coach for Milton Academy from 2005 to 2007, an assistant coach for Williams College from 2007 to 2008, an assistant coach for Sacred Heart University from 2008 to 2009, an assistant coach for Yale University from 2009 to 2015, head coach of the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League from 2015 to 2017, and the head coach of the United States National Development Team from 2020 to 2023.
Who did Muse play for?
Muse played four seasons from Stonehill College from 2001 to 2005 as a forward. He had five goals and six assists for 11 points with 14 penalty minutes in 61 games.
