NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins - Source: Imagn — New Penguins coach Dan Muse makes his feelings clear on Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and team's 'veteran' core (Imagn)

New Penguins coach Dan Muse makes his feelings clear on Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and team's 'veteran' core

Modified Jun 14, 2025 06:05 GMT

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Muse is walking into a team that replaced its coach, but not one that's been bad enough to rack up high draft picks and develop a young core of players for the long term.

The Penguins have a veteran core of Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang. The average age of the three players is 37.6. However, that doesn't change much for Muse, who is keen on working with the experienced members of the roster.

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"I've reached out to close to 95% of all players under contract," Muse told reporters on Wednesday. "We're still finishing that part up. In regards to the veteran players, you're always working with the leaders. Guys that have been in this organization for such a long time. You're going to be leaning on them."

Muse is a brand-new face in this organization, so he's happy to have such longstanding players to lean on during a transitional period. Crosby has been with the team for 20 years. Malkin and Letang have both been with them for 19 seasons.

Muse is 42 and was the assistant coach for the New York Rangers, so he's new to the team and barely older than some of his most important players.

Penguins GM reflects on new head coach Dan Muse

The Pittsburgh Penguins didn't hire anyone familiar or known to the organization after moving on from two-time Stanley Cup champion Mike Sullivan. They went for an inexperienced, young, new head coach.

Dan Muse coached with the Nashville Predators (Imagn)

Muse has five years of coaching experience as an assistant with the Rangers and Nashville Predators. It was important to find the right person, according to GM Kyle Dubas.

“I thought it would have been a great disservice to the organization just to hire someone that either I know very well or that I’ve worked with in the past, without going through the proper process, especially given where we are and the unique nature of the job,” Dubas said, according to NHL.com.

"It became clear that he was somebody that was going to be extraordinarily well-suited to develop all of our players. Not just our young players, but all of them."

Muse never made it past Division III college hockey, but he quickly rose through the coaching ranks in the NHL.

About the author

Zachary is a journalist covering NFL, Professional Golf, esports, and Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda. He has a degree in writing/editing from Southern Adventist University (USA), and in his spare time, he likes to play games such as Minecraft, Pokémon and Fortnite, or watch sports.

Ever since he was a youth football wide receiver, Zachary has been an avid NFL fan. He loves the Carolina Panthers, with Cam Newton being his all-time favorite player (with respect to the close second, Steve Smith). If you ever meet Zachary, prepare to hear all about how underrated Newton was and how he single-handedly dragged the Panthers to Super Bowl 50.

Zachary is also a big fan of top golfers like Tiger Woods, Wyndham Clark, and Scottie Scheffler. He enjoys watching them and hopes that Woods can return to form soon and win again.

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