Rangers assistant coach Dan Muse guided some of NHL drafts top prospects He showed me what

May 30, 2024

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Steve Valiquette’s Clear Sight Hockey was a fledgling data company back in 2015. Clear Sight started working with the Chicago Steel of the USHL, which had a rookie head coach in Dan Muse.

“Let me paint this picture for you,” Valiquette said on the most recent episode of “The Garden Faithful” podcast. “Dan Muse, 2015, first-year head coach at the Chicago Steel, coming over from Yale. He had a blow-up mattress in the (coaches) room because oftentimes, getting in late, he wants to be the first one there the next morning. I’d asked him about it and he said, ‘When I was at Yale, Keith Allain, the head coach, would be in at six. I got in at 6:03 and I felt like a piece of garbage. I can’t be coming in second to the head coach.’ I said, what did you do? ‘The next morning I was there at 5:55. And then (Allain) was there at 5:50!’

“I feel very confident saying this — there isn’t a coach in the NHL that will outwork this guy.”

Muse has had a couple of stops since those days in the USHL. First here in Nashville, where he was an assistant to Peter Laviolette for three seasons. That connection got Muse the job he has now with the Rangers, reunited with Laviolette in a new city.

The biggest job Muse has had was the one he just left. For three years he coached in the U.S. National Training and Development program, working the last two seasons with the current crop of draft-eligible players. And it’s as impressive a group as the USNTDP has had, with potentially four first-round picks tomorrow night and another 3-4 in Thursday’s second round.

Coaching at the U.S. program is a 24/7 experience. Muse will not have to provide many life lessons to Rangers players or coach them up on being pros. But several of Wednesday’s first-round locks credited Muse with doing just that the last two years, helping them prepare for what’s to come after they’re selected here.

“He showed me what real hockey is, honestly,” said Ryan Leonard, a center who could go anywhere from No. 6-10 on Wednesday. “What it takes to become a professional athlete, how to make a living at it. He was awesome. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

“He taught me a lot about my game, where I can fit into a lineup,” said Oliver Moore, a center who was ranked eighth among North American skaters by Central Scouting. “He gave me a lot of confidence and just trusted in me. He was a strong voice in our room, we all listened to him when he talked and soaked up all the information he gave us. For me personally, it was the hockey IQ aspect of the game he helped me with most.”

Valiquette said Muse was an eager adopter of the data Clear Sight provided in its early days, which could certainly be a good sign that he still feels the same way. The Rangers have their own data department and perhaps the connection between analytics and the coaching staff will be strong under Laviolette.

“He is hard-nosed (with an) old-school work ethic combined with new-school intelligence and progressive thinking, use of analytics. He’ll likely be running the PK,” Valiquette said.

And like fellow assistant Michael Peca, Muse being around young, highly skilled players the last few years should help with the Rangers’ crew of young talent, from accomplished players like Adam Fox to Alexis Lafrenière, who might benefit from a closer relationship to the assistant coaches than he had under the previous staff.

“He really helped my all-around game and even off the ice too,” said Will Smith, a center who could go as high as No. 4 on Wednesday. “If I ever needed to talk about anything he was there. He’s awesome as a coach and awesome as a person, so it’s pretty cool seeing him get that job with the Rangers.”

(Photo: Jari Pestelacci / Eurasia Sport Images/ Getty Images)

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