Former NHLer Nick Bonino retires, has coaching opportunity with Penguins

Longtime NHL center Nick Bonino appears set to call it a playing career, and now has the opportunity to join the Pittsburgh Penguins coaching staff.

The news was announced on the Facebook page for HK Olimpija Ljubljana, the team that Bonino spent the 2024-25 season with. HK Olimpija Ljubljana is a Slovenian hockey team that plays in the Austrian league, the ICE Hockey League.

At this point in time, the role that Bonino may get on the Penguins coaching staff is unknown.

Bonino retires after a 15-season career spent with the Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers, totaling 159 goals and 199 assists for 358 points in 868 regular season games, and 19 goals and 29 assists for 48 points in 105 playoff games. He won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017, and while he never won any individual accolades, he did get votes for the Selke Trophy in 2017, 2019 and 2020.

Originally a sixth-round pick by the Sharks in 2007, Bonino was dealt to the Ducks before his NHL debut, and after playing his first nine games in the 2009-10 season, he spent another season between the NHL and AHL before securing an NHL role during the 2011-12 season. He played another two seasons with Anaheim before he was traded to the Canucks in 2014 as part of the return for Ryan Kesler, and he played one season in Vancouver before he was traded to the Penguins.

Bonino only played two seasons in Pittsburgh, but that will probably be the team he’ll be remembered playing for the most, as he won his two Stanley Cups with the team in those seasons. He then signed a four-year deal with the Predators in free agency in 2017, and played three seasons with them before he was dealt to the Wild in 2020 to play out the final year of that contract.

Bonino then signed with the Sharks in 2021, and spent parts of two seasons in San Jose before he was dealt back to the Penguins at the 2023 trade deadline, although this time he played just three games with Pittsburgh. He signed with the Rangers the following season, but was placed on unconditional waivers to terminate the contract partway through the season. He only played one season in Europe after that, finishing his career with HK Olimpija Ljubljana.