Penguins announce Nick Bonino, Todd Nelson among new coaching staff

The Pens round out their coaching staff

The Penguins have announced the hirings for their coaching staff around Dan Muse.

Todd Nelson, a recent two-time AHL Calder Cup winning coach with Hershey, will join Pittsburgh as an assistant. Nick Bonino and Rich Clune will join Nelson as assistant coaches. Troy Paquette has been hired the team’s assistant video coach and Andy Chiodo will be retained as the goalie coach.

From the team:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have named Todd Nelson, Nick Bonino and Rich Clune assistant coaches, as well as Troy Paquette as the team’s assistant video coach, it was announced today by President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas.

Goaltending Coach Andy Chiodo will remain on Head Coach Dan Muse’s staff in the same role.

Nelson, 56, makes his return to the NHL level after spending the last three seasons as head coach of the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League from 2022-25. Nelson’s brief but successful tenure with Hershey included guiding them to back-to-back Calder Cup Championships in 2023 and ’24, and for his efforts, he was awarded the 2024 Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award given to the AHL Coach of the Year. While with Hershey, Nelson established a new AHL record, winning nine consecutive playoff series with the club. Overall with the Bears, Nelson went 141-53-12-10 for a .755 points percentage.

“With over two decades of coaching experience, Todd brings a championship pedigree and a winning history that speaks for itself,” said Muse. “He has consistently demonstrated an exceptional ability to get the most out of his players, most recently in Hershey, and his leadership qualities and wealth of experience will be a tremendous asset to our team as we continue to build a culture of excellence.”

A native of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Nelson’s full body of work includes over 20 years of coaching experience, including stints at the NHL and AHL in various roles. At the NHL level, Nelson briefly served as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers in 2014-15 and also had stops with the Dallas Stars (2018-22) and Atlanta Thrashers (2008-10), both as an assistant coach.

At the AHL level, Nelson has served as head coach with Hershey (2022-25), Grand Rapids (2015-18) and Oklahoma City (2010-15), winning the Calder Cup Championship on three separate occasions (2024, ’23, ’17), making him one of just six coaches in AHL history to win three league championships. Overall, his 450 regular-season wins at the AHL level rank fifth all-time, while his 73 postseason victories are third most in AHL history. Nelson was also an assistant coach with Chicago from 2006-08 and Grand Rapids from 2002-03.

Nelson, who was drafted by the Penguins in the fourth round (79th overall) of the 1989 NHL Draft, enjoyed an 11-year professional career across the NHL, AHL and Europe. The defenseman appeared in one game for the Penguins in 1991.

Bonino, a two-time Stanley Cup Champion with Pittsburgh in 2016 and ’17, joins the Penguins coaching staff following a 15-year professional playing career across the NHL and AHL, with a brief stop in Austria’s top professional league. In total, Bonino skated in 868 career NHL regular-season games with Pittsburgh, San Jose, Minnesota, Nashville, Vancouver, Anaheim and the New York Rangers and recorded 159 goals, 199 assists, 358 points and is a plus-30.

“Nick’s understanding of what it takes to win at the NHL level is unmatched, and his unique experience as a player who filled many different roles over the course of his career will only help him as an assistant coach,” said Muse. “His familiarity with the Penguins organization, as well as my familiarity with him as a player, and person, made him a great fit for this role, and we’re excited to welcome him to our coaching staff as he enters the next phase of his career.”

Bonino, 37, played with Pittsburgh from 2015-17, and then re-joined the team briefly in 2023, recording 27 goals, 39 assists and 66 points in 146 regular-season games with the Penguins. The forward played an integral part of the Penguins’ back-to-back championships, recording eight goals, 17 assists and 25 points in 45 playoff games, including the series-clinching goal in Round 2 against the Washington Capitals in 2016. Bonino centered the iconic ‘HBK Line’ in the ’16 postseason along with Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin.

Prior to turning professional, Bonino played three seasons of collegiate hockey at Boston University, where he won the National Championship with the Terriers in 2009. The Hartford, Connecticut native has also played in three World Championships with Team USA (2015, ’18, ’23), winning a bronze medal twice. Bonino was originally drafted in the sixth round (173rd overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks.

Clune, 38, joins the Penguins after one season as an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks. Clune began his coaching career within the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, beginning as a player development coach in 2022 and joining the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League as an assistant coach in 2023.

“Rich brings a wealth of knowledge across every level of professional hockey, spanning from his 15-year playing career to his time in development and coaching at the AHL and NHL levels over the past three years,” said Muse. “Rich’s experience in coaching, development and as a former player and captain will be extremely valuable in this role, and we’re excited for his addition to our coaching staff.”

The 2018 Calder Cup Champion with the Marlies had a 15-plus year professional career across the NHL, AHL and ECHL. The Toronto, ON native played in 139 career NHL games with Los Angeles, Nashville and Toronto, posting 22 points (7G-15A). Clune is a veteran of 593 career AHL games with Iowa, Manchester, Milwaukee and Toronto, tallying 151 points (57G-94A). He concluded his playing career with a seven-year stint in Toronto’s organization, serving as an assistant captain from 2015-20 and captain from 2020-22 prior to retirement.

Clune was originally drafted by the Dallas Stars in the third round (71st overall) of the 2005 NHL Draft.

Chiodo, 42, has spent the last seven seasons in the Penguins organization, including the last four (2021-25) as goaltending coach. Before that, Chiodo spent three seasons as the Penguins’ goaltending development coach from 2018-21 where he was responsible for working with young goaltending prospects throughout the Penguins organization in Europe, the minor leagues, juniors and college hockey.

Prior to his time within the Penguins organization, Chiodo spent the 2017-18 season as the goaltending coach for the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League.

Chiodo, a seventh round (199th overall) draft pick by the Penguins in 2003, enjoyed a 14-year professional career in the NHL, American Hockey League, ECHL and in Europe. The goaltender played eight career NHL games, all with Pittsburgh, in the 2003-04 season.

Paquette, 29, joins the Penguins organization as an assistant video coach under Video Coach Madison Nikkel. The native of Kingston, Ontario has spent the past four seasons (2021-25) as video coach of the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. Prior to that, Paquette got his start in coaching with the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL, where he served as video coach from 2018-21.