Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Muse named a finalist for Jack Adams Award

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Muse has been named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, the team announced on Friday.

Presented annually, the award goes "to the coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success," according to a media release provided by the Penguins.

Muse, a rookie head coach, led Pittsburgh to a 41-25-16 record and 98 points during the 2025-26 campaign, helping the Penguins reach the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 season.

His 41 wins were tied for the third-most in franchise history by a coach in their first year with the team, and his 98 points tied a franchise record for most points accumulated by a coach in their first year.

Muse's arrival, combined with other roster moves made by general manager Kyle Dubas, helped Pittsburgh score 290 goals in the regular season, the most since the beginning of the Sidney Crosby era, and the most the team has scored in a single season in 30 years, after the 1995-96 Penguins scored 362 goals.

Muse is just the third coach in franchise history to be named a Jack Adams Award finalist, joining Dan Bylsma (2010-11) and Michel Therrien (2006-07). Bylsma won the award following the 2010-11 season.

Muse would also become just the 10th head coach in league history to win the Jack Adams in their first year of coaching.

Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff and Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper are the other two finalists for the award. The winner will be named towards the conclusion of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.