San Jose Sharks
BREAKING: Bonino Traded to Penguins
The San Jose Sharks are kicking off Trade Deadline day.
Per Elliotte Friedman, the San Jose Sharks have traded Nick Bonino to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Good morning…hearing that late last night, Nick Bonino was dealt to PIT @IceSinghHNIC
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 3, 2023
Here’s the return:
Good Morning. We have a trade to announce.
We have acquired draft selections for forward Nick Bonino in a three-team trade.
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 3, 2023
Interestingly, this trade involves something of a pick swap. The Sharks have sent their own 2024 fifth-rounder to the Montreal Canadiens, while keeping Pittsburgh’s from the same Draft. And the Pens’ fifth could turn into a fourth if Pittsburgh makes the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals.
Bonino getting informed of the trade is probably what we saw post-game of the Sharks’ 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues last night, when we saw Bonino and James Reimer embrace in the hallway in front of the San Jose Sharks locker room.
“Nick and I go way back,” head coach David Quinn said of his relationship with Bonino, who’s he known since the center-winger played at Boston University. “It’s a hard part of sports. As a coach you get attached to players, and I think it’s one of the reasons all of us get into this profession. Not only do you want to help people professionally, but you become attached to them personally. Some of these guys getting moved, it’ll be hard.”
Bonino started the season with just one assist in 20 games, but in his last 39 contests, he’s put up a respectable 10 goals and eight assists.
But more important than that offense, the 34-year-old center-winger brings Stanley Cup-winning experience and a reliable, detailed 200-foot game to a contender.
Of course, it was with the Pens that Bonino won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017.
Bonino was No. 2 on San Jose Hockey Now’s top-10 most likely Sharks to be dealt on Trade Deadline day.
More on this story as it develops.
