Two-time Stanley Cup Champion Veteran with Pittsburgh Penguins Suddenly Retires
Photo credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images
Two-time Stanley Cup champion veteran Nick Bonino has just announced his retirement as a player and immediately took on a role with the Penguins.
Nick Bonino will be retiring from pro hockey and reportedly will become a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins' coaching staff in the near future, although it does not state what he would be doing in that role.
The Slovenian team, HK Olimpija Ljubljana, for which Bonino suited up for the 2024-25 season, made the announcement. The team is based in the Austrian-based ICE Hockey League. This was later followed up with a post from the NHL Alumni.
Nick Bonino has announced his retirement from professional hockey after 15
NHL seasons.
After three years as a Boston University Terrier, Nick made the jump to the NHL and played his first NHL game for the Anaheim Ducks on March 26, 2010, and would score his first career goal just three days later on March 29.
Nick would play parts of his first five seasons in Anaheim with the Ducks before joining the Canucks via trade during the 2014 offseason. After one season in Vancouver, Nick joined the penguins ahead of the 2015-16 campaign.
Near the end of the 2015-16 regular season, Bonino found himself centring a line between Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel, and thanks to their chemistry, the HBK line was born, becoming an instrumental part of Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup victory. Bonino and the Penguins would repeat as Stanley Cup champions one year later.
During the 2017 offseason, Nick joined the Preds as a free agent, playing 148 games across two seasons for the Predators, before joining the mnwild for the shortened 2021 season.
After two seasons with the SanJose Shark, Nick rounded out his NHL career with a reunion in Pittsburgh and a final season with the NYRangers in 2023-24.
Over his 868 NHL regular-season games, Nick recorded 159 goals and 199 assists for 358 points.
In conjunction with his retirement, Nick also announced he'll be joining the Pittsburgh Penguins coaching staff for the upcoming season.
Congratulations, Nick, on a great career, and welcome to the NHL Alumni Association!
NHL seasons.
After three years as a Boston University Terrier, Nick made the jump to the NHL and played his first NHL game for the Anaheim Ducks on March 26, 2010, and would score his first career goal just three days later on March 29.
Nick would play parts of his first five seasons in Anaheim with the Ducks before joining the Canucks via trade during the 2014 offseason. After one season in Vancouver, Nick joined the penguins ahead of the 2015-16 campaign.
Near the end of the 2015-16 regular season, Bonino found himself centring a line between Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel, and thanks to their chemistry, the HBK line was born, becoming an instrumental part of Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup victory. Bonino and the Penguins would repeat as Stanley Cup champions one year later.
During the 2017 offseason, Nick joined the Preds as a free agent, playing 148 games across two seasons for the Predators, before joining the mnwild for the shortened 2021 season.
After two seasons with the SanJose Shark, Nick rounded out his NHL career with a reunion in Pittsburgh and a final season with the NYRangers in 2023-24.
Over his 868 NHL regular-season games, Nick recorded 159 goals and 199 assists for 358 points.
In conjunction with his retirement, Nick also announced he'll be joining the Pittsburgh Penguins coaching staff for the upcoming season.
Congratulations, Nick, on a great career, and welcome to the NHL Alumni Association!
Bonino concludes a 15-year NHL career with a total of 868 regular-season games played with seven franchises: the Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, and New York Rangers.
Bonino won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins
He tallied 159 goals and 199 assists for 358 points, and 48 points in 105 playoff games. Perhaps most notably, he won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017, earning Selke Trophy votes in 2017, 2019, and 2020.
Signed in the sixth round by the Sharks in 2007, Bonino was dealt away from Anaheim before he ever played in an NHL game.
A first-year full-time NHL player in 2011-12, he was dealt to Vancouver in 2014 and ended up in Pittsburgh the following year. Though just with the Penguins for two seasons, those Stanley Cup appearances cemented his Steel City legacy.
After Pittsburgh, Bonino inked a four-year contract with Nashville, then with Minnesota and San Jose. A second stint back with the Penguins in 2023 lasted briefly, with Bonino appearing in three games only.
A stint with the Rangers also lasted briefly, finishing with his contract being terminated, and Bonino ended his career overseas, in Slovenia.
The next step in his career will likely have him working behind the bench in Pittsburgh.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 18 | 283 ANSWERS Two-time Stanley Cup Champion Veteran with Pittsburgh Penguins Suddenly Retires Will Nick Bonino have success behind the bench? | ||
| Yes | 130 | 45.9 % |
| No | 153 | 54.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
TRENDING NOW
