Notre Dame has announced that Tristan Musser has been named an assistant coach, effective Nov. 1, 2025.
Musser will assume the staff position vacated by Andy Slaggert, who is off to pro hockey.
His primary responsibilities will include personalized player development of current student-athletes and emphasized recruiting efforts of prospective student-athletes. Musser joins the Irish following five seasons in the NHL as a scout for the Buffalo Sabres.
“I’m extremely grateful and equally excited to join the Notre Dame hockey program and campus community,” Musser said in a statement. “I’d like to thank (Notre Dame head coach) Brock Sheahan for the opportunity and am sincerely looking forward to working with him and Mike Garman again, as well as building new bonds with Andrew Oglevie and the rest of the staff and student-athletes.
“Secondly, I’d also like to thank the Buffalo Sabres for being tremendously supportive and understanding of me pursuing this position. Lastly, thank you to my wife Alex and our family for the sacrifices they’ve made over the years.”
Sheahan and Musser previously worked alongside each other with the USHL’s Chicago Steel where Musser served as the director of player development, skills coach and director of player personnel. During their time together with the Steel, the pair – along with current Irish associate head coach Mike Garman – led the team to the Anderson Cup, awarded to the USHL’s regular-season champions.
“As a program we could not be more excited to welcome Tristan and his family to the Notre Dame hockey family,” Sheahan said. “Going back to our time together with the Chicago Steel, I have always envisioned Tristan and I working together again when the time was right. He is a high-level person that works as hard as anyone I have ever worked with in the hockey world.”
Following his stint with the Steel, Musser became one of the top regional scouts in the NHL with a knack for spotting talent at all levels of hockey. He has also spent time at Canisius, USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, OJHL’s Buffalo Jr. Sabres, USA Hockey’s NTDP and was head coach of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres’ 16U team in 2017-18.
“Tristan will head our player development model, something that I have witnessed firsthand in Chicago, and he will be an amazing resource for our student-athletes,” said Sheahan. “He will also work alongside Andrew Oglevie, supporting our recruiting efforts. His experience as an NHL scout with the Buffalo Sabres and an assistant GM with the Chicago Steel will be huge for our program. He has a great eye for talent and is well connected in the professional and junior hockey community. Adding Tristan is going to help us find the right people for Irish hockey and then help us develop them to the highest level.”
A native of Lansing, Mich., Musser earned his bachelor’s degree in 2014 from Adrian, where he spent four years as a member of the Bulldogs’ ACHA team.