In addition to Michael Peca, Dan Muse and Phil Housley have been added as Rangers assistant coaches to Peter Laviolette’s staff. Housley, the former NHL defenseman, worked with Laviolette for three years in Nashville, coinciding with Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis’ emergence as top defensemen in the league. Muse also spent three years with Laviolette in Nashville before coaching the Team USA’s U18 team to gold at the World Championships this year.
Starting with Muse, this is again a very targeted hire to develop the youth, specifically Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko. Muse is working with one of the best prospects in the country (Will Smith) with the USNTDP. It’s clear Muse knows what he’s doing from a development standpoint, and has the NHL experience to boot. His specific role is currently unknown, but he’s a worker.
"Dan Muse … nobody—and I feel very confident saying this—there isn't a coach in the NHL that will outwork this guy. He is hard-nosed, old school work ethic with new school intelligence and progressive thinking and use of analytics. He'll be running the PK." #NYR
— Phil Kocher (@PhilKocher) June 22, 2023
Housley will coach the defensemen, as expected from the Hall of Famer. He helped develop Josi, Ellis, Mattias Ekholm, and others for a solid Nashville club. He didn’t have the same talent to work with in Buffalo, but he, like Peca and Laviolette, were big users of analytics to help drive systems and roster decisions.
Peca, Housley, and Muse (and the immortal Benoit Allaire) make a great supporting staff for Laviolette, something we clearly didn’t see with Gerard Gallant.
So far, so good for the Rangers this offseason.
More About:Coaching Moves