Former Penguin Set To Join Coaching Staff For 2025-26 Season

A few weeks after it was announced that Dan Muse would become the 23rd head coach in Pittsburgh Penguins franchise history, it appears that a former Penguin will be joining his coaching staff as well.

On Wednesday, former Penguins' forward and two-time Stanley Cup champion Nick Bonino announced that he would be joining the Penguins' organization as a coach. He also officially announced his retirement from professional hockey.

The 37-year-old center spent his final season in professional hockey playing for Ljubljana Olimpija HK of the Austrian League, where he recorded six goals and 17 points in 22 games. 

Bonino was selected in the sixth round (173rd overall) by the San Jose Sharks in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. He spent three seasons with Boston University before his rights were dealt to the Anaheim Ducks in March of 2009, where he spent the first five seasons of his NHL career.

After one season with the Vancouver Canucks in 2014-15, he was traded to Pittsburgh on July 28, 2015 in a deal that sent center Brandon Sutter the other way. Known as a "tough as nails" third-line center, Bonino provided the structure, responsible play, and grit that the Penguins needed in their bottom-six and on their third line. 

He also became one cog of the famous "HBK Line" - which also included Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin - that helped lead Pittsburgh to its 2016 Stanley Cup championship. During that playoff line, Bonino registered four goals and 18 points in 24 games, and the HBK Line combined for 20 goals and 56 points in those 24 games en route to the Cup.

And in 2017, Bonino famously played through a large portion of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Nashville Predators on a broken tibia after blocking a shot by P.K. Subban. Although he missed the remainder of the back-to-back Cup-clinching series, he played a crucial role in helping the Penguins get there.

Bonino left as a UFA the following summer and joined the Predators for three seasons. He did see a brief second stint in Pittsburgh during the 2022-23 season, but he appeared in only three games before an injury ended his season. 

Throughout the course of his NHL career, Bonino registered 159 goals and 358 points in 868 games, including 27 goals and 66 points across his two full seasons in Pittsburgh. 

He is the first known addition to Muse's coaching staff for the 2025-26 season.