PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was a clear message from the Pens general manager and new head coach, they didn’t bring in someone to just help the stars or to just help rebuild. They believe head coach Dan Muse can help all get better as they work to get back to a playoff organization.
“It became clear that he was extraordinarily well suited to develop all of our players, not just the young players, but all of them,” said GM Kyle Dubas, admitting he didn’t know much about Muse before the interview process.
“What an exciting time it is to come in here,” Muse said. “You have legendary players of our game, future Hall of Famers. You have exciting young players coming up and a little bit of everything in-between. To have an opportunity to make sure they continue to grow, I can’t tell you how excited that is.”
Muse said during his introductory news conference at PPG Paints Arena, what he’s been able to do is identify things all can work on, from the greenest rookie to the most accomplished veteran. It’s what he loves about the sport, the ability to develop players.
“You are helping that player take their game to the next level,” Muse said. “To be able to see that growth happen and it’s never direct. There are always bumps in the road. I think it’s really rewarding to be a part of that to help players achieve what they are looking to do and see what is possible.”
A hockey lover his whole life, Muse said they are going through a period of transition. He said they will work the entire summer to put together a plan to start training camp. What he is doing now is trying to get to know players and all are different. Muse said he is committed to every player in the organization to make them better.
He’s been in contact with Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang as part of those conversations. He said they really haven’t done a deep dive into anything but getting to know each other. Muse said he values relationships, it’s how you gain trust by getting to know everyone.
This being his first NHL head coaching job, Muse didn’t want to put a timeframe on anything. But a former assistant who specialized in the penalty kill, not surprisingly he’s a man who demands a 200-foot game.
“You have to work on both sides of the puck and we will be,” Muse said at PPG Paints Arena. “We want to play with detail. We want to make sure the habits are in place that lead to success. When we have the puck, we want everybody working to score goals. When we don’t have the puck, we want everybody working to make sure we are defending and defending the right way.”
Muse will focus on setting a foundation of good details. He believes day-to-day habits will create that success. They’ll build out from there as to what their system will look like. What is sounds like is he wants a group that will be aggressive, but also responsible.
“I believe that the way the game is played now, you need five guys involved to create offense,” Muse. “Teams are too good defensively. You have to do different things to create high-quality chances.”
But it won’t be at the expense of defense.
It’s a week in to being the Pens head coach with a summer of free agent moves and potential trades that could impact this team. He said they’ll be ready day one of training camp. We will learn more each day after that.