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Penguins Coach Reveals Plans for Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh's Aging Core

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Antonio Losada | Last updated Jun 12, 2025 9:28 AM ET

Dan Muse has entered his first NHL head coaching job at the helm of the Pittsburgh Penguins under uncommon circumstances.

Muse is replacing a two-time Cup-winning coach in Mike Sullivan, inheriting an aging core of superstars — Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson — that averages nearly 37 years old, and facing a fan base starved for playoff hockey after missing the postseason three consecutive seasons.

While some first-year coaches might try to stamp their identity early, Muse is taking a different approach and has revealed he will lean on the experience of his current players.

“I’ve reached out to close to 95% of all players under contract,” Muse said. “We’re still finishing that part up. In regards to the veteran players, you’re always working with the leaders. Guys that have been in this organization for such a long time. You’re going to be leaning on them.”

Dan Muse said he reached out to Sidney Crosby on Day 1. https://t.co/rfh5VyFdGg
— Joe Brand (@Joe_Brand1) June 11, 2025

The aforementioned veteran core features four players under contract for at least one more season and as many as three in the case of Letang.

Muse, who spent the last five years as an assistant with the Rangers and Predators, is only 42.

That makes him barely older than Crosby (36), Malkin (37), and Letang (37). Despite his newness to Pittsburgh and the head coach duties, he’s made it clear he’s not arriving to upend the current core but to work with it.

Meanwhile, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas emphasized that Muse’s hiring came from a deliberate process, not familiarity, during the introductory press conference of the new coach.

"It became clear that he was somebody that was going to be extraordinarily well-suited to develop all of our players," Dubas said. "Not just our young players, but all of them."

Despite suggestions floating the idea that Crosby might take a player-coach role along with Muse, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman quickly dismissed that possibility on June 6.

"I can’t think of Crosby as a player-coach," Friedman said. "I still think of him as an incredibly driven guy who wants to win more (focusing strictly on playing)."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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