The Rangers have made three official hires Peter Laviolette’s staff and all three are familiar faces for the new head coach.
Joining Laviolette will be behind the bench Phil Housley as associate head coach and Dan Muse and Michael Peca as assistant coaches, president and general manager Chris Drury announced on Friday.
Housley was an assistant coach under Laviolette with Nashville for four seasons (2013-17), a span that saw the Predators reach the Stanley Cup Final. The former seven-time NHL All-Star defenseman oversaw a unit that ranked in the top two in goals by defensemen in each season with Nashville and was in the top half in fewest goals allowed in each of his last three seasons there.
He comes to New York after most recently serving as an assistant coach with the Arizona Coyotes (2019-22). After a 21-year NHL career after being the sixth overall pick in 1982, Housley was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015.
Housely was hired as the Buffalo Sabers head coach before the 2017-18 campaign but was fired after two seasons and a 58-84-22 record.
Muse also served on Laviolette’s staff in Nashville for three seasons. For the past three seasons, he served as head coach of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program and guided the U-18 team to multiple World Championships.
Prior to joining the Predators, Muse spent two years as head coach of the USHL’s Chicago Steel, including a Clark Cup championship-winning season in 2017. He was also on the staff at Yale University (2009-15).
Peca, a 14-year NHL veteran who spent three seasons with the Islanders and served as captain, joined after working as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. He began his professional coaching career with the Washington Capitals as a player development coach under Laviolette in 2020-21.