The Pittsburgh Penguins have hired Rangers assistant coach Dan Muse to be their next head coach.
Muse was an assistant for two seasons under Peter Laviolette and this will be his first NHL head coaching job.
Adam Rotter: This is a little surprising and off the board for the Penguins. Muse is a young coach that has won at other levels and he was probably someone the Rangers were hoping to keep on Mike Sullivan’s staff. When Muse was hired it was speculated that he could eventually replace Peter Laviolette but that was under the impression that Laviolette got to a second contract with the Rangers and Muse had been his assistant for 4-5 years.
It’s now the second time in the last two years that that the Rangers have hired a new head coach and not really considered someone in their organization. Kris Knoblauch wasn’t given much consideration to replace Gerard Gallant and then the Oilers plucked him from Hartford last season and he’s now coaching in the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight year. This year with Sullivan was a little different as the Rangers seemed to halt their search and put everything towards getting Sullivan. That was the right call, but had they even gone through a proper search I’m no sure how high Muse was going to be on their list, if on the list at all. It’s a relatively low risk choice for the Penguins as they appear headed towards rebuilding, even with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and, for the moment, Erik Karlsson on the team. Most of Muse’s coaching history before the Rangers, outside of a few years with Peter Laviolette in Nashville as an assistant coach, was in the USHL and the US National Development Program and so if the Penguins are expecting an influx of young players over the next few years, Muse could be someone to develop with them.
So that officially leaves Mike Sullivan with no assistant coaches. Phil Housley was fired along with Peter Laviolette and Michael Peca joined Chicago. Sullivan’s assistant in Pittsburgh for many years, Mike Vellucci, also joined Chicago. The Rangers did retain goalie coach Jeff Malcolm. So where does that leave the Rangers and Sullivan?
Former Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco and Sullivan’s assistant in Pittsburgh and, obviously, former Rangers coach David Quinn were mentioned as possibilities today. There is a Boston University connection between all three, Sullivan played with Quinn and then with Sacco at BU, and Quinn was an assistant to Sacco in Colorado in 2013. Sacco, with all his experience and connection to Sullivan, makes sense and while it may be weird for Quinn to return, I’m sure part of him would also like the chance to return and try and get the team and whichever of his former players are left, over the hump. I could also see Pittsburgh wanting to try and retain Quinn and give Muse an experienced assistant. There was also, when Sullivan was hired, talk of John Tortorella returning as an assistant. That ended up being shot down, but the longer we go without an announcement on Sullivan’s staff, the more I wonder if the possibility will be looked at again.