'I wouldn’t change a thing': New Penguins coach Dan Muse confident in his background, experience

As he gets settled in as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, two things are true about Dan Muse.

For starters, he couldn’t have arrived at the helm of an NHL franchise without a strong knowledge of the game of hockey, plus the ability to impart information to players.

But Muse is also preparing to enter a locker room full of professionals who have achieved significantly more than he did as a player, with his own playing days consisting of four seasons at Division III Stonehill College from 2001-05.

“For the record, I wasn’t a very good D-III player, just so everybody’s aware,” Muse joked Wednesday at PPG Paints Arena, when he was formally introduced as the 23rd coach in Penguins history.

Muse showcases zero embarrassment over his career (or lack thereof) as a player.

For Muse, 42, it’s a distinct part of his path that he draws upon for strength, not as a weakness or shortcoming.

“Because it was hard for me, like, because I had to work really hard just to be a high school player, and then really, really hard just to be a bad Division III player, that helped me become who I am,” he said. “So I wouldn’t change any of that.

“That taught me about work ethic. That taught me about, 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. So I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Per Elite Stats, Muse concluded his collegiate career as a forward with the Skyhawks having scored five goals with six assists over 61 games.

Muse admitted that if any self-consciousness did exist over the course of his coaching career, it came early on, particularly when he joined Division I Sacred Heart in 2008-09.

Even at that early stage as a coach, Muse, in his mid-20s, had to contend with coaching players at a more competitive level that he could relate to from personal experience.

But, ultimately, that’s been the story of Muse’s coaching career, which has included stops as an assistant at Yale (with whom he won a national championship in 2013) and the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers.

Muse’s prior head coaching experience comes via the junior ranks with the USHL’s Chicago Steel (leading them to a Clark Cup championship in 2017) and the United States National Development Program.

“I think I was probably more intimidated going into my first Division I job as an assistant than I was, honestly, ever again,” Muse said. “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.”

When he emerged as a blip on the radar to be the next coach of the Penguins, Muse maintained a similar attitude and approach with general manager/president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas.

“I went in with the mindset of, ‘I’m going be myself. I’m going be me. If they like me, they like me. If they don’t, they don’t,’ ” Muse said. “That’s all.”

Dubas, who did not have a personal relationship with Muse at the start of launching his coaching search, soon found himself impressed.

From initially making contact, to chatting over Zoom and then meeting in-person, Dubas grew confident that he had found his guy.

“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 — as we got through it and further into the process, it became clear that he was going to be a great fit to help us, partner with us and help lead us through this transition and then back into contention with the Pittsburgh Penguins,” Dubas said.

Over nearly 20 years as a coach, Muse has demonstrated the ability to make an impact at the junior and collegiate levels.

Peter Laviolette entrusted him with the penalty kill with the Predators and Rangers, and Muse was part of a Presidents’ Trophy-winning club in Nashville and New York.

Now, Muse’s challenge will be channeling all those prior experiences to earn the buy-in and respect of Penguins superstars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson, not to mention the rest of the roster.

As of Wednesday, Muse said he already had spoken to “95%” of all Penguins players currently under contract, including Crosby and Letang.

How they will take to him as Mike Sullivan’s replacement remains to be seen.

But, for now, Muse knows how he wants to approach things this summer ahead of the preseason.

“There’s going to be the big-picture conversations, and there’s a lot of the smaller conversations, as well,” Muse said. “Right now, for me, this is all about getting to know these guys. We’re not diving deep into the hockey talk. I’ve been on the job for a week now. It’s been a lot of time on the phone because it is important. It is priority No. 1 to be able to develop those relationships.

“But we’re going to continue to build on those as we go through the summer and into the season.”