| Neal Pionk | |||
|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Pionk with theWinnipeg Jets in 2022 | |||
| Born | (1995-07-29)July 29, 1995 (age 29) Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 186 lb (84 kg; 13 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Defense | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| NHL team Former teams | Winnipeg Jets New York Rangers | ||
| National team |  United States | ||
| NHL draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2017–present | ||
Neal Robert Pionk[1] (born July 29, 1995) is anAmerican professionalice hockeydefenseman for theWinnipeg Jets of theNational Hockey League (NHL). An undrafted player, Pionk was signed by theNew York Rangers as a college free agent from theUniversity of Minnesota Duluth in 2017.
Pionk was born on July 29, 1995, inOmaha, Nebraska,[2] to parents Karen and Scott Pionk.[3] His father playedbaseball forProctor High School and theUniversity of Wisconsin–Superior before coachingice hockey at the youth level and for theUnited States Hockey League (USHL).[4] Pionk was raised inHermantown, Minnesota, a suburb ofDuluth, where his father built a baseball diamond and an ice hockey rink for Pionk and his friends to practice.[5] All five Pionk brothers played baseball and ice hockey as children, and after school they would play two-on-two hockey in this backyard ice rink.[6] In his adolescence, Pionk played with futureNational Hockey League (NHL) playerDylan Samberg on youth teams and for Hermantown High School.[7] Pionk and his brothers also created an annualpick-up hockey tradition with fellow brothers Travis andCole Koepke. They referred to this annual tournament as the Holiday Cup.[8] In his final season for Hermantown, Pionk scored 14goals and 29points in 25 games.[9]
TheSioux City Musketeers selected Pionk in the fifth round, 66th overall, of the 2012 USHL Draft.[10] Immediately after taking Hermantown to a state championship title in 2013, Pionk left the school to begin hisjunior ice hockey career in Sioux City.[11][12] He played 12 games for the Musketeers during their2012–13 season, recording one goal and six points in the process.[9] The next season, he recorded two goals and 23 points in 54 regular season games for the Musketeers.[12] Sioux City advanced to the Western Conference Finals of the 2014USHL championships, where they were swept by theWaterloo Black Hawks.[13] Overlooked in the2014 NHL Draft, Pionk served ascaptain of the Musketeers for the2014–15 season.[14] With seven goals and 41assists in 53 regular season games, Pionk led all USHLdefensemen in scoring, and he was named theUSHL Defenseman of the Year at the end of the season.[10] The Musketeers were eliminated by theSioux Falls Stampede in a five-game Western Conference Semifinal series that postseason.[15] In 119 career games for Sioux City, Pionk recorded 10 goals, 77 points, a +44plus–minus rating, and 199penalty minutes.[16]
Pionk committed to playcollege ice hockey for theMinnesota Duluth Bulldogs in 2012,[4] and he signed aNational Letter of Intent in 2014 to join Duluth for their 2015–16 season.[12] On October 24, 2015, Pionk scored the first goal of his collegiate career, the game-tying point in a 3–3 overtime draw againstNotre Dame.[17] After recording two points, two blocked shots, and a +2 rating in the two-game Notre Dame series, theNational Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) named Pionk their Defensive Player of the Week.[18] Pionk received weekly honors again on March 7 after generating a team-high three points and four blocked shots in a two-game sweep ofMiami University.[19] Appearing in all 40 games for Duluth during his freshman season, Pionk recorded four goals and 17 points, and the Bulldogs named him the Jerry Chumola Rookie of the Year.[20] At the end of the 2015–16 season, all Duluth freshmen, including Pionk, were named to the NCHC All-Academic Team.[21]
After recording a goal and an assist in a two-game series against theUMass Lowell River Hawks, Pionk began the 2016–17 season as the NCHC Defenseman of the Week for the week ending October 10.[22] He received the award again on December 12 after recording three points, six blocked shots, and a +2 rating against theDenver Pioneers.[23] His third weekly honor of the season came on February 6, 2017, after a three-point weekend againstOmaha.[24] With seven goals and 28 points in the regular 2016–17 season, Pionk was named to both theAll-NCHC Second Team and the All-USCHO Third Team as a sophomore.[25][26] In the postseason, Pionk and the Bulldogs defeated theNorth Dakota Fighting Hawks 4–3 to capture the2017 NCHC Tournament championship, their first conference championship since 2009.[27] Pionk was one of four Duluth players named to the Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team that year.[28] The Bulldogs then advanced to the2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, where they fell 3–2 to Denver in the national championship.[29] Pionk added another six points in eight postseason games, and he was named to theNCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey All-Tournament Team.[30]
After Duluth's loss to Denver in the NCAA tournament finals, Pionk announced that he would forfeit his final two seasons of college hockey eligibility in order to begin a professional career.[31] He finished his career in Duluth with 11 goals, 51 points, and a +35 rating in 82 games.[30]
On May 1, 2017, Pionk signed a two-year, $3.55 million contract with theNew York Rangers of the NHL.[16][32] After attending training camp with New York, Pionk was assigned to theHartford Wolf Pack of theAmerican Hockey League (AHL) to begin the2017–18 season.[33] He made his professional hockey debut on October 6, 2017, against theCharlotte Checkers, and recorded his first point two days later against theLehigh Valley Phantoms. After recording one goal and 17 points in 48 games, Pionk was promoted to the Rangers on February 8, 2018.[34] He made his NHL debut the next night, blocking three shots in a 4-3 victory over theCalgary Flames.[35] Pionk scored his first NHL goal on March 24 against theBuffalo Sabres, the culmination of a stretch of 13 points in 12 games.[36] Despite playing on a team that struggled defensively throughout the2017–18 season, Pionk finished his rookie year with 14 points in 28 games, and he received frequent playing time down the final stretch of the season.[37]
Pionk joined the Rangers full-time during the2018–19 season. He recorded six goals and 26 points in 73 games, leading all Rangers' defencemen with 13 power play points.
On June 17, 2019, Pionk and a2019 first-round pick were traded to theWinnipeg Jets in exchange forJacob Trouba. The first-round pick originally belonged to the Jets.[38] On July 21, the Jets signed Pionk to a two-year, $6 million contract extension.[39]
On August 11, 2021, Pionk signed a four-year, $23.5 million contract with the Jets.[40]
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing United States | ||
| Men'sice hockey | ||
| World Championships | ||
 | 2018 Denmark | |
As a citizen of the United States, Pionk has represented his home country at both the junior and senior levels. He first represented Team USA at the2013 World Junior A Challenge where he helped them earn a gold medal and was named to the Tournament All-Star Team.[41] Following this, Pionk never represented Team USA again until 2018, when he along with teammateChris Kreider, were the only Rangers players selected to represent theUnited States at the2018 IIHF World Championship.[42] During the tournament, Pionk recorded three points through 10 games to win a bronze medal.[43]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2011–12 | Hermantown High School | HSMN | 25 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | Hermantown High School | HSMN | 25 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | Sioux City Musketeers | USHL | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Sioux City Musketeers | USHL | 54 | 2 | 21 | 23 | 93 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 2014–15 | Sioux City Musketeers | USHL | 53 | 7 | 41 | 48 | 104 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 2015–16 | University of Minnesota Duluth | NCHC | 40 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | University of Minnesota Duluth | NCHC | 42 | 7 | 27 | 34 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 48 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | New York Rangers | NHL | 28 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | New York Rangers | NHL | 73 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 71 | 6 | 39 | 45 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 54 | 3 | 29 | 32 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 2021–22 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 77 | 3 | 31 | 34 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 82 | 10 | 23 | 33 | 44 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 82 | 5 | 28 | 33 | 63 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| NHL totals | 467 | 34 | 183 | 217 | 252 | 22 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 6 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | United States | WC |  | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Senior totals | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| USHL | ||
| First All-Star Team | 2015 | [44] |
| Defenseman of the Year | 2015 | |
| College | ||
| NCHCAll-Tournament Team | 2017 | [45] |
| NCAAAll-Tournament Team | 2017 | [46] |
| NCHC Second All-Star Team | 2017 | |