The Pittsburgh Penguins have been a Cinderella story this season. Not much was expected of this team on opening night, but as this season went along, they proved the doubters wrong. New head coach Dan Muse may be the beneficiary of a major award, the Jack Adams Award. Muse got the team to buy in and looks forward to a promising 2026-27 season.
Who is Muse nominated with?
Muse is in elite company with the nominations this season. Also nominated are Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper and Buffalo Sabres head coach, the legendary Lindy Ruff. The Jack Adams Award is annually presented to the head coach who "is adjudged to have contributed the most to his teams' success".
While the Penguins lost in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers four games to two, they did make the playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
The Penguins finished the 2025-26 season with a 41-25-16 record, good for 98 points, second in the Metropolitan Division. At the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, Pittsburgh finished with a record of 34-36-12, good for 80 points and seventh in the division. The Penguins saw an increase in wins (+7), points % (+0.110), goals for per game (+0.59), a decrease in goals against per game (-0.35), and penalty kill percentage (+3.6%).
The Sabres had the biggest jump from last season to this season. 30 more points in the standings (79-109) and improved six spots in the standings (seventh to first). Tampa Bay had almost identical records between last season and this season, improving only four points (102-106) and remaining in second place.
Penguins' Muse no stranger to team success
Muse has been successfully at every step he has had in hockey. In 2013, he guided Yale to the NCAA National Championship. Also in 2013, he was part of a World Junior Championship team as a video coach. In 2017, he won the Clark Cup as the head coach of the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League (USHL). He won the Presidents Trophy as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators (2017-18) and the New York Rangers (2023-24) for the team having the most points at the end of the regular season. He was also instrumental in the World Junior Championships in 2023, winning the gold medal as head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team.
Muse was named head coach of the Penguins on June 4, 2025 and guided them to success rather quickly. The 98 points this season tied a franchise record for most points by a first-year coach, while the 41 wins were the third best in franchise history among first-year head coaches. There is no question that he did the most with the least and deserves the award. One of the best seasons in Penguins history was made possible by the hiring of Muse, who is no stranger to winning. Next season there will be bigger expectations and he is there to see those through. Muse is the third coach in franchise history to be nominated for the Jack Adams Awaard, following Dan Bylsma (2010-11) and Michel Therrien (2006-07).
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