Pittsburgh Penguins to Hire Rookie NHL Head Coach, Per Elliotte Friedman

For the past few weeks, it has appeared as though the Pittsburgh Penguins were leaning towards either DJ Smith or Mitch Love as their new Head Coach, but on Wednesday, we got a surprising update from Elliotte Friedman.

According to the NHL's top insider, it's now New York Rangers assistant Dan Muse that is leading the way to become the teams new Head Coach, with the team seemingly narrowing it down to two rookie coaches.

The 42-year old didn't play beyond the college level in the early 2000's, but has since spent 20 years as a coach building himself up, working as a Head Coach in the USHL and for the US National Development team before finally making the NHL.

Over the past two years, Muse joined Peter Laviolette's staff in New York as an assistant, and while many believed he would one day climb the ranks to Head Coach in the NHL, no one quite expected it to happen this off-season.

In his time at the NCAA, World Juniors, NTDP, USH and eventually the NHL level Muse has performed various roles for his team, but now, momentum is gathering for him to become the next Head Coach in Pittsburgh.

This would signal a clear shift in philosophy in Pittsburgh, as a rookie coach would be good for the future of the organization, and while nothing is official yet, with the likes of Love and Smith still in the running, expect something to be announced by the Penguins this week.

Shortly after this revelation from Elliotte Friedman, the Penguins made it official, hiring Muse as their next Head Coach as they look to build their team for the future.

Only time will tell if this is the best move, but given the time and effort that Kyle Dubas and the organization put into this search, it's safe to say that they're confident in this hire.