Penguins coach Dan Muse has the job. Now he has to take control

New York Times

a day ago

PITTSBURGH — In August 2017, I stood in Mike Sullivan's backyard about an hour southeast of Boston and asked him a simple question.
How did you win the Stanley Cup again?
In 2016, the Penguins had the best team. It would have been something if that team didn't win the Cup. By 2017, they were exhausted, and Kris Letang was out for the postseason with an injury. So, how did they do it?
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Sullivan took the cigar out of his mouth.
'Because we had nothing but alpha males,' he responded. 'That's how you win Cups.'
I always found his response amusing, and not because he was wrong. Sullivan himself is the ultimate alpha male, and the coaches who have gotten the most out of the Penguins in modern times have had that personality.
Michel Therrien largely made the Penguins great. His personality eventually rubbed the Penguins the wrong way, but, though he didn't get his name on the Stanley Cup, he expedited a young core into a championship-caliber team. He was so tough that he publicly called his team soft.
Sullivan propelled the Penguins to their greatest heights, turning them into back-to-back champions. He didn't get them to the top of the mountain by being gentle.
Dan Bylsma won the Cup, so I'm taking nothing away from him. But he didn't get the most out of the Penguins while Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Letang were in their prime because he was too nice. He ultimately didn't challenge them enough.
Mike Johnston? He had the Penguins doing yoga. You know how that went.
Enter Dan Muse, largely an unknown in Pittsburgh.
I don't know much about his personality. I've not met the man. I've spoken with a few people who know him. The consensus is that he's a kind, good coach.
But what kind of backbone does he have? I'm not asking because I'm skeptical. He'll need one. You might say that he doesn't necessarily need to be an alpha male because he was brought in to prioritize young players, not aging stars. It's a fair point. But the Big Three are still here. Erik Karlsson is still here.
The Penguins, in the short term, have a real problem. It's easy to say they should tank for Gavin McKenna. But that's a loser's mindset, and, even if you tank for him, you probably won't get him. Plus, if you start drifting toward the bottom of the standings, there's a real chance you'll just become stuck like the Detroit Red Wings, or the San Jose Sharks, or the Chicago Blackhawks, or the Anaheim Ducks over the past five or six years.
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Ideally, the Penguins will continue collecting future assets and develop them quickly over the next couple of years. Crosby will stay great. Malkin will have a successful farewell tour next season. Letang will successfully and happily transition into a lesser role. A coach will finally get through to Karlsson, and those incomparable offensive instincts will finally exceed all of the mistakes he's made with the Penguins. Rutger McGroarty will keep getting better. Ville Koivunen, too.
None of these things will happen with a soft coach behind the bench.
Crosby loves to be coached. He loves it. He doesn't like being told how great he is, nor does he like having a coach who will bow to him because he's Sidney Crosby. Sullivan used to call Crosby into his office and break down facets of his game that could be better. Crosby relished it. The two used to have healthy arguments about which linemates were best for Crosby. Is Muse going to handle Crosby similarly? He should.
No one loves being challenged more than Malkin.
During a slump in his second season, Malkin was called into Therrien's office. Therrien pulled out a newspaper, highlighted the league's top scorers, and asked Malkin why he wasn't at the top of the list. Malkin went on a tear.
When he goes on one of his infamous drive-by defensive-zone coverages, swooping through the defensive zone without making any hard stops, will Malkin hear about it from Muse? It's a tough call. He's probably retiring after next season. He's a franchise icon. He's one of Crosby's best friends. If you're a new coach and you lose Malkin's trust, you risk losing Crosby, too. Then again, if you don't stand up to Malkin, you won't get the most out of him. It's a delicate line.
If you were to give Sullivan truth serum, he'd tell you he loves Letang. I bet he wouldn't tell you he loved coaching him.
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Karlsson? Oh boy. I imagine he's one of hockey's most frustrating players to coach.
Coaching young players is said to be Muse's strength, so I'll assume he has a pretty good feel for getting the most out of the Penguins' prospects. Then again, he's never been an NHL head coach while doing so. Every personality is different, but being soft on young players isn't necessarily the way to go.
The young guys are what matter, and this hire proves it. But what about the short term? What about this coming season? It's easy to assume the Penguins won't be good, but why settle for that?
You don't hire a new coach for the explicit reason of stinking for the next couple of years. There is no competitive spirit in that — no nobility. The Penguins would love to surprise everyone next season while marinating all of those first- and second-round draft picks who are on the way.
They don't have to stink forever. They don't have to tank for McKenna. They're allowed to organically get better immediately. There's no law against it. It should be their goal. Maybe it's a long shot, but it's worth trying. They won't get there with a pushover behind the bench.
If the Big Three are to go out with anything other than a whimper, they need to play better next season. (Crosby was great, but Malkin and Letang decidedly were not.) The young guys need to exceed expectations. There needs to be a harmonious fusion of excellence between old and young.
Muse might well be a wonderful teacher. That's important. But the same things were once said about Johnston.
Muse better coach Crosby, not admire him. And he better hold Malkin, Letang and Karlsson accountable. They'll walk all over him if he doesn't.
Young players will be watching. Muse will earn everybody's respect by putting the veterans in their place.
The ultimate goal here is for the new generation of Penguins coming to the NHL to learn from Crosby — to merge with him and create something special before he skates away from the game. Teaching them how to tank won't do that.
They need to come together, absorb a fresh message and be on the same page.
That only happens with this collection of players if a no-nonsense coach sets the standard from the start.