Elliotte Friedman Gets Painfully Honest About Possible Player-Coach Role for Sidney Crosby originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Pittsburgh Penguins officially named Dan Muse as their next head coach this week, replacing Mike Sullivan after three straight seasons without a playoff berth.
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Muse, 42, enters the role with experience as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators and most recently with the New York Rangers, where he specialized in managing penalty killing and special teams.
Muse will now take over a team still anchored by a Penguins core of veterans featuring Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, all of them under contract for at least one more season.
While the appointment signals a new direction for the franchise, Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas brought an interesting idea to the table on Thursday.
The analyst asked fellow NHL insider Elliotte Friedman on Thursday’s episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast whether Crosby might take on more than just an on-ice role given his experience and legendary stature within the franchise.
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Bukauskas raised the idea of Crosby acting in an unofficial player-coach role next season, something Friedman doesn’t see happening.
“The only reason I’m going to say no, Kyle, is that I think if you went to Sidney Crosby and said, ‘I see you more as a player-coach than anything else right now,'” Friedman said. “You might get stuffed into a trash can.”
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby (87) tracks the puck against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Despite his age and 20 seasons of NHL experience, Friedman thinks Crosby remains focused on competing and is only interested in playing the game, not coaching it.
“I can’t think of Crosby as a player-coach,” Friedman said. “I still think of him as an incredibly driven guy who wants to win more.”
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Friedman added that the hiring of Muse will likely draw more attention to Crosby’s opinion and influence within the team’s evolving structure, given that this is the first head coaching job taken by Muse throughout his professional career.
Related: NHL Trade Idea Sends Penguins’ Erik Karlsson to Maple Leafs in One-for-One Deal
Related: Sidney Crosby Clarifies Role in Penguins’ Pursuit of Next Coach
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 6, 2025, where it first appeared.