Penguins Head Coach Dan Muse has been named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, it was announced today by the NHL. First awarded in 1973-74, the Jack Adams Award is presented annually “to the coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success”.
Muse led Pittsburgh to a 41-25-16 record and 98 points in 2025-26, helping the Penguins reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign. His 41 wins were tied for the third-most in franchise history by a coach in their first year with the team, and his 98 points tied a franchise record for most points accumulated by a coach in their first year.
Under Muse’s guidance, the Penguins saw year-over-year improvement from 2024-25 in almost every major team statistical category:
Statistic ‘24-25 ‘25-26 YoY Improvement
Wins 34 41 +7
Points 80 98 +18
PTS% .488 .598 +.110
RW 24 34 +10
GF/GM 2.95 3.54 +0.59
GA/GM 3.50 3.15 -0.35
PK% 77.8% 81.4% +3.6%
Led by their first-year head coach, the Penguins finished the regular season with 290 goals, a figure that ranked third in the NHL. It marked the most goals scored by Pittsburgh during Sidney Crosby’s tenure with the club (2005-present), and most the team has scored in a single season in 30 years (1995-96, 362).
Muse is just the third coach in franchise history to be named a Jack Adams Award finalist along with Dan Bylsma (2010-11) and Michel Therrien (2006-07), and he’s looking to join Bylsma as the only coaches to win the Jack Adams in franchise history. He would also become just the 10th head coach to win the Jack Adams in their first year coaching in NHL history.
Muse is joined by Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff and Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper as the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award. The winner will be named towards the conclusion of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
