Pittsburgh Penguins acquire Nick Bonino from San Jose Sharks
The Penguins are bringing back a third of the HBK Line from their last Stanley Cup runs, as they’ve reportedly acquired center Nick Bonino from the San Jose Sharks.
Full details of Bonino trade pic.twitter.com/OjfEc79ARN
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) March 3, 2023The deal apparently occurred under our noses late last night, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. While it was initially believed that it was just the Penguins and Sharks making the deal with the Montreal Canadiens acting as a third party broker, it’s turned out that it’s a three team trade.
The first leg of the trade involves the Sharks moving Bonino and their 2024 fifth round pick to the Canadiens in exchange for the rights to defenseman Arvid Henrikson. Then the Sharks dealt defenseman Tony Sund to the Penguins in exchange for a conditional 2024 fifth round and 2023 seventh round pick. And finally the Canadiens send Bonino to the Penguins in exchange for Sund and Bonino’s salary retained.
Bonino ranked 22nd on Frank Seravalli’s most recent edition of the Trade Targets list. He’s in the final year of a two-year deal with a $2.05 million cap hit with the Sharks. The Habs will retain 50% of the deal, giving the Pens a $1.025 million cap hit on their books.
The Penguins bring back Bonino after he spent two seasons in Pittsburgh in 2015-16 and 2016-17. It felt like his Pens career was much longer, but that’s because he went on two deep Stanley Cup runs with them, playing a big role as their third-line center between Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin as part of the famous HBK Line for those two championship teams. Unfortunately, the odds are not high that either of the other two members of that line are returning, with Kessel part of another contender in the Vegas Golden Knights, and Hagelin out indefinitely after a hip surgery.
Bonino is having a bit of a down year with 10 goals, nine assists, and 19 points in 59 games, although it’s still relatively close to his regular production between 25 and 35 points. However, he’s better known for his defensive ability, with a 5-on-5 expected goals against per 60 minutes of 2.55 and 2.6 defensive goals above replacement on a really weak Sharks team.
Bonino joins a Pens team that is fighting for a wild card spot in the playoffs. They sit in the first wild card spot at the moment with a 31-21-9 record, and are currently red hot with a four-game winning streak. They’ve already acquired Mikael Granlund at this year’s deadline as an attempt to bolster their forward group for a playoff run.
Henrikson was a seventh round pick of the Habs in 2016, and has one assist in 29 games for Lake Superior State University in the CCHA.
Sund was an undrafted free agent that the Sharks signed in 2019, and one goal, eight assists, and nine points in 40 games with Rogle BK Angelholm in the Swedish Hockey League.
The conditional 2024 fifth round pick to the Sharks sees it become a fourth round pick if the Penguins advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
