Bill Zonnon breaks into the Top 5 on this year’s countdown and displayed his promise as a prospect with a standout playoff performance for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Catch up on the previous entries for this year:
Pensburgh Top 25 Under 25: Graduates and Departed players in 2025 Top 25 Under 25: The best of the rest #25: Chase Pietila, D #24: Ryan Miller, F #23: Finn Harding, D #22: Peyton Kettles, D #21: Zam Plante, F #21: Brady Peddle, D #20: Melvin Fernstrom #19: Tanner Howe #18: Tomas
Galvas #17: Pierce Mbuyi #16: Jake Livanavage #15: Owen Pickering #14: Tristan Broz #13: Avery Hayes #12: Ville Koivunen #11: Hendrix Lapierre #10: Markus Ruck #9: Mikhail Ilyin #8: Joel Blomqvist #7: Liam Ruck #6: Will Horcoff
#5: Bill Zonnon
2025 Ranking: No. 6
Age: 19 (October 3, 2006)
Acquired Via: 2025 NHL Draft, 1st round, 22nd overall
Height/Weight: 6-foot 2-inches, 190 pounds
Elite Prospects resume:
After being selected as the Penguins second of three first round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft, Zonnon was sent back to the QMJHL for another year of development at the junior level, but his season began on pause as he recovered from an injury prior to training camp that kept him out of the lineup until November.
As a result, Zonnon did not make his season debut with Blainville-Boisbriand until November 1st, and even that return was short-lived, lasting just two games before Zonnon endured a separate injury that took him out of the lineup for an additional 13 games before returning to action once again just after Christmas.
With injury troubles behind him, Zonnon was finally able to settle in and get his development on track through the rest of the QMJHL season. In 35 games played, Zonnon posted 46 points, including 14 goals, primarily playing as a centerman with the Armada.
When stretched out over the course of a full QMJHL season (64 games), Zonnon scored at a 1.31 points per game pace, a slight uptick from the season prior where he sat on a 1.28 pace. Crunching the numbers, playing a full season with a 1.31 PPG rate, Zonnon was on track to record 84 points, a number that places him in the Top 10 among all Q players for last season.
Although the injury issues played a major impact on his 2025-26 campaign, Zonnon was a force on the ice when his health improved and he wasted little time making an impact. He recorded points in his first four games back from the second injury layoff and recorded a hat trick on January 11th just two weeks after returning to the lineup.
In the 35 games Zonnon played in last season, he recorded a point in 26 of those contests, ending the season as the fourth leading scorer on the Armada team despite missing 29 games. His strong second half of the season helped push Blainville-Boisbriand to second place in the QMJHL Western Conference and into the playoffs.
Blainville-Boisbriand opened the playoffs with a four game sweep over Victoriaville before knocking out Newfoundland in the second round in six games. In the semifinals, the Armada met the league best Moncton Wildcats but fell agonizingly short in a seven game thriller to see its season end.
Over the course of 17 playoff games with the Armada, Zonnon featured in the entire slate, racking up 15 points to help push his side all the way to the semifinals before being eliminated.
Prior to his playoff run with the Aramda, Zonnon inked his entry level deal with the Penguins on March 22nd, then just two days after his QMJHL season came to a close, Zonnon signed an amateur tryout contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins who were already amidst a playoff run of their own.
Zonnon joined the Baby Penguins for the Atlantic Division final against the Springfield Thunderbirds, making his presence known right from the start with goals in his first three games with Wilkes-Barre, including a pair of game winners that helped push the team into the Eastern Conference Finals.
For a player getting his first taste of professional hockey, Zonnon made quite an impression and raised his own bar for what to expect from the 2025 first rounder as he prepares to enter his first full professional season in 2026-27.
Per Trib Live:
Zonnon, who turns 20 on Oct. 3, is eligible to turn professional on a full-time basis next season and the assumption is that he’ll report to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton when the 2026-27 campaign begins.
There’s a lot to like about Zonnon beyond his ability to generate offense. He plays a defensively continuous game all over the rink while offering a measure of physical play. A contributor on both special teams units, Zonnon is also strong in the faceoff circle, having won 53.4% of his draws last season.
But there’s definitely room for refinement given his youth and limited experience.
Regardless of the time frame for him to reach the NHL, there is plenty of reason to be intrigued by Zonnon.
While his hot start with WBS was nice, he certainly tailed off a bit towards the end of his season, but that is perhaps to be expected for a player getting his feet wet at the professional level for the first time. He’ll just be turning 20 by the time this season begins, leaving him a lot of time to continue his development in the AHL where he will continue to refine his game.
During his short AHL stint this season, Zonnon played primarily as a center on the fourth line, but he has a notable edge to his game that reminds a lot of fans of another certain No. 72 (Zonnon’s AHL number) that came through Pittsburgh and made quite an impact.
Getting a full season under his belt in 2026-27 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will be a big developmental step for Zonnon as it will give him a full time look at the professional level rather than just a cup of tea. He was a big scorer at the junior level but now we will see whether or not that skill set translates over to the professional game.
It’s easy to see why the Penguins are so high on Zonnon and why they coveted him enough to make him a first round pick. He does a lot of the little things well on top of being able to contribute on the offensive end of the ice. Zonnon’s style is exactly the type of player who helps win championships, now we just have to wait and see if he becomes one of those players as his development continues.
