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The Pittsburgh Penguins named Dan Muse as their new head coach on Wednesday, making him the second-youngest bench boss in the league.

Muse has been an NHL assistant coach for the past five seasons, including the past two with the New York Rangers. At 42 years old, Muse is eclipsed by only San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky (37) as the youngest head coach in the league.

This will be Muse’s first head coaching job in the NHL. Terms were not released by the Penguins.

“During this process, we met with many candidates who we felt would have been a fit as the next head coach of the Penguins, but ultimately, Dan Muse stood out as the best choice. What separated Dan was his ability to develop players, win at all levels where he has been a head coach and his consistent success coaching special teams in the NHL,” Penguins president Kyle Dubas said in the release.

Muse replaces Mike Sullivan, who parted ways with the Penguins in late April. Sullivan was hired by the Rangers days later.

Muse, also an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators from 2017-20, served as head coach of the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League (2015-17). Muse also has head coaching experience with USA Hockey.

Dubas also noted Muse’s success in leading the penalty kill units for both the Predators and the Rangers.

“Additionally, his leadership of special teams units at the NHL level in both Nashville and New York produced elite results consistently. His overall body of work, attention to detail and vision for our group showed us that he is the best coach to take our team forward,” Dubas said.

–Field Level Media