Penguins A to Z: Nick Bonino’s return was over before it began
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With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season coming to an end without any postseason action, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 49 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Corey Andonovski to top-six winger Jason Zucker.
This series will publish every weekday leading into the NHL Draft on June 28 and 29.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)
Nick Bonino
Position: Center
Shoots: Left
Age: 35
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 195 pounds
2022-23 NHL statistics: 62 games, 19 points (10 goals, nine assists)
Contract: In the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $2.05 million. Pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.
Acquired: Trade, March 3, 2023
(Note: The Montreal Canadiens retained $1.025 million of Bonino’s salary cap hit as a condition in a three-way trade with the San Jose Sharks.)
Last season: After leaving the Penguins as an unrestricted free agent following the franchise’s Stanley Cup championship in 2017, Bonino had embarked on something of a nomadic existence as an NHLer. But a consistent one.
Be it with the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild or Sharks, Bonino found a way to provide steady offense while largely inhabiting a defensive presence in whatever lineup he was in. And he even managed to reach double-digit figures in goals over the past six seasons, even with two of those seasons being disrupted in some fashion by the pandemic.
And the 2022-23 season largely followed that pattern for Bonino, even with a bad Sharks team that largely competed for nothing but a position in the NHL’s draft lottery.
That said, things were a struggle for Bonino as he was limited to three assists in his first 24 games of the season (with a three-game absence in late October due to an undisclosed injury mixed in).
The dam finally broke for Bonino — who largely played the left wing for most of the season — on Dec. 4 when he scored a goal in a 6-3 road loss to the Buffalo Sabres. That led to a tidy four-game goal-scoring streak for Bonino.
As the Sharks largely went nowhere as 2022-23 moved along, Bonino followed a pattern of streakiness. After going 11 games without a goal between Dec. 17 and Jan. 10, he racked up five goals in eight games between Jan. 11-27.
Through those ups and downs with his base offensive figures, Bonino remained a steady part of the Sharks’ penalty kill, averaging 2:14 of short-handed ice time in the 59 games he played for San Jose in 2022-23.
As the trade deadline approached, the Sharks were decidedly sellers and sent Bonino to the Penguins in a three-team trade that involved the Montreal Canadiens.
Bonino’s reunion with the Penguins was short-lived, however, as it amounted to all of three games and no points. An awkward check resulted in him suffering a lacerated kidney on March 9 and sidelined him for the remainder of 2022-23 as he finished the season designated to long-term injured reserve.
Fully recovered, Bonino is expected to suit up for the United States in the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship tournament later this month.
The future: Bonino has indicated he would like to re-sign with the Penguins. But a lot of much bigger things need to unfold with the Penguins’ front office — such as finding a new general manager — before Bonino’s future — or the fates of other more prominent teammates — can be determined.
If Bonino is to re-sign to the Penguins, it would presumably need to be at a smaller price than what his total salary cap hit has been the past two years.
Wherever he ends up, he can still be a viable contributor to any team’s group of bottom-six forwards and on a penalty kill. Even as he approaches his late 30s, Bonino can still be a contributor as a versatile forward who can play left wing or center.
But given his age and his selfless style of play, health issues are a viable concern with Bonino.
His lacerated kidney largely led to his return being over before it really began.