Have the Penguins found the next Spencer Carbery? That’s where we figured the search was going from the start despite things playing out with three veteran coaches being among the four to five finalists.

The Penguins this afternoon have officially announced New York Rangers assistant Dan Muse as the 23rd head coach in team history.

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“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,” said Kyle Dubas in a released statement. “What separated Dan was his ability to develop players, win at all levels and where has been a head coach and his consistent success coaching special teams in the NHL. From his success in developing college and junior players, to his impactful work with veteran 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 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.”

Muse, 42, had spent the past two years on Peter Laviolette’s staff in New York and was also on Laviolette’ staff in Nashville from 2017-2020. But, what drew the Penguins to Muse was his work with the U.S. National team. A staple of Muse coaching style in all areas of the rink is puck support and puck pressure. That is certainly going to be a staple under him in building a system in Pittsburgh. [/hide] Muse has been vocal through the years of establishing an offensive system based off a read and react system with the most important player in the system being second forward puck support off the forecheck and on the cycle.

In the immediate, one of the major questions with Muse will be his ability to coach the older core. Another question is how many of them will still be here?

This is not going to be an easy job by any means that Muse is walking into. There’s a reason some veteran coaches who could toe the line of developing while being able to handle the older core were given serious consideration for the job too. To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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