Helping Each Player Grow: Muse’s Mission in Pittsburgh

Kyle Dubas felt the Penguins needed to be extremely thorough in their search for a new head coach, which ultimately led them to Dan Muse, who was hired into the role on June 4.

He isn’t someone Dubas knew personally before starting the interview process. But it soon became clear that Muse was "extraordinarily well-suited" for the job. At just 42 years old, Muse has over 20 years of coaching experience, including time as an NHL assistant with the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers. His track record of both winning and developing players of all ages stood out, as did Muse’s character.

“Talking to players, people and staff members that Dan has worked with, just the way that he conducts himself, his work ethic, his intelligence – everything about him – it became clear that he was going to be a great fit,” Dubas said. “To partner with us and help lead us through this transition, and then back into contention with the Pittsburgh Penguins.”

Muse said even just receiving that first phone call from Dubas was a “massive honor.” Learning he had gotten the position was the thrill of a lifetime.

“You have legendary players of our game here in Pittsburgh, future Hall of Famers; you have these exciting young players that are coming up; and then you have a little bit of everything in between,” Muse said. “To have an opportunity to work together with everybody here to make sure that these players are continuing to grow, wherever they are in their careers – I just can't tell you how exciting an opportunity that is.”

Dubas and Muse have talked a lot about where the franchise currently stands, and the best way to move the team ahead. Management is working to return Pittsburgh back to legitimate contention, with a plan in place to make that happen as urgently as possible. But Dubas doesn’t want to put a timeline on it, and neither does Muse. Maximizing what each person can bring will be a day-to-day approach.

“It’s going to be about coming in, putting in the work, having a plan for each individual, having a plan for the collective group, attacking it starting Day 1 of training camp, then building it,” Muse said. “That’s all you can do right now. That’s what I believe in. It’s going to be working together as a staff to make sure that’s happening. That’s the job.”

After speaking with the media for the first time on Wednesday, it’s easy to see how Muse left such a terrific impression on Dubas after just one meeting. Muse may have had an unconventional journey to this point, but all of those experiences have prepared him for his dream job.

“I feel extremely fortunate for all the steps along the way,” Muse said. “It’s taking all these different things that I've seen, different things that I've learned, different things that I've done – some things that along the way, maybe have changed – and now, you're getting an opportunity to work and apply them in this league. I think especially having that opportunity to work in two different NHL organizations as well, with all those different players – it's led me to feel extremely confident in my abilities coming into this opportunity.”

As a kid, Muse spent time in nontraditional hockey markets like California and Alabama, but his dad is from Boston and grew up playing the sport. Seeing pictures of him on the ice inspired Muse.

“I thought, ‘This would be really cool,’” Muse said. “You develop a passion. It’s a special thing to have, especially at a young age, to find something that you really love and it gives you that drive and motivation. It started there. They supported it and helped grow that.”

Muse was able to play college hockey at Stonehill College, “and for the record, I wasn’t a very good D3 player, just so everyone’s aware,” he said with a laugh. Working extremely hard just to reach that level taught Muse so much.

“Because it was hard for me, that helped me become who I am,” he said. “That taught me about (how) you never quit, you don't stop. You don't listen to any of the outside noise. You just keep finding a way. And so, would it have been nice to have had an NHL career? Yeah, it would have been. But for where I am right now, those lessons, that's what made me, me.

"Since then, I've been coaching up a higher level essentially my entire coaching career. So, I never try to be somebody that I'm not. I'm very upfront with it. It was part of my journey, and so I wouldn't change any of it."

Muse believes that coaching starts with relationships, and that until you get to know someone, it’s hard to work together properly. That’s what has helped Muse acquire such a good reputation when it comes to development.

“Everybody's different. I learned that early on in my coaching career, even before I was coaching,” Muse said. “I was teaching high school history and I was going into a classroom, and you have to figure out what makes each person tick, what motivates them, how do they learn, what's best for them?

“The other part of player development is saying, what could you become, and helping that person believe that. Then helping guide them, helping them with a road map on how to get there.”

That process is already underway one week into the job, with Muse having reached out to about 95% of the players under contract with the Penguins organization. Those conversations will continue throughout the summer as the team comes together.

Once it does, Dubas has complete faith in Muse that he can implement key details and habits, while also being adaptable.

“There wasn’t just one way he wants to play. He was very easily able to communicate the way he would teach very different systems, which gave great comfort not only to me but to our staff, that we weren’t going to be bound by having to do one specific thing,” Dubas said. “Some of the coaches in the (interviewing) process had one way they wanted to play, and that’s fine. That goes with all sports. But Dan’s adaptability and the proof of concept with his past teams was very important to us.”

Muse said the collaborative aspect was important to him, saying that this isn’t just about him, but about the staff as a whole and the organization. It’s something he learned under his two biggest coaching influences: Keith Allain, whom he spent six years with at Yale, and Peter Laviolette, who brought Muse on board with the Predators and Rangers.

The common denominator Muse took from them is treating people the right way and learning how to empower a staff.

“Had I not seen that firsthand from both of them, and the responsibilities they gave me and the belief they gave me in myself through their actions and through the way that we worked together, I think that’s something that I now know as a head coach,” Muse said. “In the different head coach roles that I’ve had, that’s a lesson that I’ve learned from them that I’ve tried to apply.”

Now, Muse is getting the chance to do so in the ultimate head coach position.

“It's an honor to work in the NHL. It's a huge honor to be a head coach in this league,” he said. “It's extremely humbling to be a part of this organization, this city, working with this staff and these players. I couldn't be more excited to get started here.”