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Stanley Cup Champion Joins Penguins Coaching Staff

A two-time Stanley Cup champion is back with the Pittsburgh Penguins, this time as a coach.

Jon Alfano

Pittsburgh Penguins center Nick Bonino skates with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Nashville Predators.
Pittsburgh Penguins center Nick Bonino skates with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Nashville Predators. / Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
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Longtime NHL forward Nick Bonino is retiring after 15 seasons and joining the Pittsburgh Penguins as a coach, he announced Wednesday.

“I just wanted to officially announce I will be retiring from professional hockey," Bonino said (translation via PensBurgh). I had a really unique opportunity come up to coach the Pittsburgh Penguins, it’s something that we thought was the best move for our family at this time. Tough decision because we had an absolute blast in Ljubljana [Slovenia], it was so welcoming to us, can’t thank the fans enough for the support.”

The Penguins have yet to officially announce the signing, so it's not clear if he'll be behind the bench alongside new head coach Dan Muse or if he'll serve a developmental role of some sort. He has no prior coaching experience.

Bonino, 37, played for the Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, Penguins, Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers over his 15-year career. He finishes with 358 points (159 goals, 199 assists) in 868 regular season games, as well as 48 poins (19 goals, 29 assists) in 105 playoff games.

The Connecticut native is most known for his time in Pittsburgh, where he centered the famous HBK line with Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel to help the Penguins win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.

Bonino spent last season in Slovenia with HK Olimpija of the ICE Hockey League.

Bonino is slightly younger than Penguins stalwarts Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, and now he'll be coaching them in the twilight of their careers.

Muse and the Penguins are still in the process of forming their coaching staff for the upcoming season. WIth former coach Mike Sullivan taking most of his staff with him to the Rangers, they may as well be starting from scratch.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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