[6] In his adolescence, Pionk played with future National Hockey League (NHL) player Dylan Samberg on youth teams and for Hermantown High School.

[10] Immediately after taking Hermantown to a state championship title in 2013, Pionk left the school to begin his junior ice hockey career in Sioux City.

[12] Sioux City advanced to the Western Conference Finals of the 2014 USHL championships, where they were swept by the Waterloo Black Hawks.

[17] After recording two points, two blocked shots, and a +2 rating in the two-game Notre Dame series, the National 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 of Miami 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.

[28] The Bulldogs then advanced to the 2017 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 the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey All-Tournament Team.

[16][32] After attending training camp with New York, Pionk was assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL) to begin the 2017–18 season.

[33] He made his professional hockey debut on October 6, 2017, against the Charlotte Checkers, and recorded his first point two days later against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.