Former Canucks forward Nick Bonino traded back to Penguins
Former Vancouver Canucks forward Nick Bonino is back with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the trade in the early hours of Friday’s NHL Trade Deadline, which sends the journeyman forward back to the Penguins for a second stint.
Bonino Bonino Bonino!!! @HkyNightPunjabi https://t.co/573IPnoffr
— Harnarayan | IceSingh (@IceSinghHNIC) March 3, 2023
The San Jose Sharks acquired 2023 fifth-round and seventh-round picks from the Penguins in exchange.
Bonino has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 59 games this season with the Sharks, and returns to the team where he had some of the best years of his career.
The 34-year-old forward leads San Jose in shorthanded ice time and blocked shots this season and is a rental on an expiring contract with a cap hit of $2.05 million.
Playing with Pittsburgh from 2015-17, Bonino was a part of the Penguins’ back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, scoring the winning goal in Game 2 and sparking Harnarayan Singh’s famous “Bonino! Bonino! Bonino!” goal call.
*Blesses your timeline* #BONINOBONINOBONINO@IceSinghHNIC @RandipJanda @HarpPandher @BhupinderHundal pic.twitter.com/07TXfKje21
— Hockey Night Punjabi (@HkyNightPunjabi) May 31, 2016
In his Canucks tenure, the forward played 75 games through the 2014-15 season and scored 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists) before then-general manager Jim Benning sent him to Pittsburgh alongside defenceman Adam Clendening and a 2016 second-round pick.
In exchange, the Jim Rutherford-led Penguins sent the Canucks Brandon Sutter and a 2016 third-round pick.
Bonino was on the Canucks when the club last played a home playoff game in 2015.
With an aging core led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins are looking to take another run at the Stanley Cup before their inevitable regression in the upcoming seasons. As well, there’s clear pressure to extend the club’s 17-year playoff berth streak.
Pittsburgh currently sit in the Eastern Conference’s top wildcard spot with 71 points through 61 games.
Bonino’s return to the Penguins’ yellow and black could come on Saturday night when the Penguins face off against the Florida Panthers in a critical game in both teams’ playoff hopes.
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