Character, Passion and Dedication Define Dan Muse’s Path to Pittsburgh

Muse winning at all levels where he has been a head coach helped separate him in the Pittsburgh’s search. So did his consistent success coaching special teams in the NHL.

In Nashville, Muse ran the penalty killing unit, which ranked fourth in the NHL over his two full seasons (2017-19) with the club.

“He’s just so detailed, and for a player like me who wants to know everything, I loved it,” said Bonino, a key part of that group. But sometimes, it was almost too much information. So, one time, after a PK meeting that lasted 20-plus minutes ahead of a game against the Bruins, Bonino approached Muse.

“I went up to him and said, I almost forgot what you said at the beginning, because he had so much information to share with us after watching hours and hours of video,” Bonino said. “I think that does translate to success. I think even just telling him that as a player, he’s like, okay. I get it. And he would tailor it more to a way that the guys could get the information, but in maybe a shorter time frame.”

While Muse was happy to do that, he was also happy to talk about the PK with Bonino at length on their own time.

“I always loved that about Muser,” Bonino said. “Because it’s something I was really passionate about… and I liked his ability to want to talk about it. You run into some coaches where it’s their way or the highway. And I felt with him, if something wasn’t working, he wanted to know what we think.”

Now, in Pittsburgh, Muse won’t just be overseeing special teams – he’ll be running the whole show. It’s something Muse has been quietly working towards since moving into coaching following the end of his four-year playing career at Stonehill College, a Division III school.

“I know when he came to work for us (at USA Hockey), one of the questions was, what is your long-term goal? And it was to be a head coach in the NHL,” Monoghan said. “A lot of guys that are coming from a non-traditional background that didn’t play in the NHL – hell, he didn’t even play Division I college, right? – would not even try to set that goal, but he set it, and he had a confidence level with it.

“He’s a self-made coach who has the utter respect of everybody he works with.”