Pittsburgh makes their second pick of the night in the first round of the 2025 NHL draft
The Penguins took to the stage with their second pick of the night, at No. 22 overall and selected Bill Zonnon from the QMJHL.
Zonnon, 6’2, 187, is a native of Montreal. He acquitted himself well with 55 assists and 83 points last season — two of the highest numbers for an underage player in that league.
Here’s what our friends at Pension Plan Puppets said about Zonnon in their profile of him.
Position: Left-shot centre
League(s): QMJHL
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 190 lbs
Birthdate: October 3rd, 2006
Here are his draft rankings, as of writing this:
Bob McKenzie: 34th
Corey Pronman: 41st
Will Scouch: 17th
Elite Prospects: 28th
Scott Wheeler: 31st
Dobber Prospects: 18th
FC Hockey: 28th
McKeen’s Hockey: 32nd
HockeyProspect.com: 29th
Zonnon has had a fair amount of hype for a couple of years now. He was the sixth overall pick in the QMJHL draft back in 2022, and has seen his production jump from 39 points as a 15/16 year old, to 58 points the following season, and then to 83 points this year. That was good for fourth in the QMJHL for draft eligibles, only narrowly behind the three guys ahead of him. Statistics wise, he didn’t quite break 30 goals but definitely profiles more as a playmaker and set-up man. His shot rate is low compared to other top offensive producers in his age group in the QMJHL.
Size is not a problem for Zonnon. He’s 6’2” and looks it, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets an updated measurement at the draft combine (if invited) and he’s closer to 6’3”. His weight at 190 is a good weight to have for his height, and he doesn’t look lanky per se — but I definitely think he can, will, and should add more muscle.
Zonnon didn’t just improve his offensive production this year, he also greatly improved his all around play and became a much more versatile forward. He was moved from the wing with no time playing at centre, to being a full-time centre with all the extra responsibilities that entails — and he did it well. So well, in fact, that he was used as his team’s top-line centre for basically all of the season. He was also on their top powerplay, and on their second penalty kill unit. His faceoff win percentage was just below 50% which is not great for a top centre, but considering this was his first season playing the position at all I think he has time to work on his technique and timing and get better. It will not be the end of the world for him to wind up as a winger.
Here’s what Will Scouch said about Zonnon. Scouch was one of Zonnon’s highest believers in ranking him 10th overall in his final rankings. Here’s the report there:
I’m never not impressed by Zonnon when he’s on the ice, and I’m relatively confident he has just as much claim to being a great pick this year as any other big, physical centres that are available. The thing I love about Zonnon relative to the others available is the pace of his game. Sure, he isn’t the most beautiful skater out there, but he is absolutely not slow, and absolutely not without skill. Zonnon combines his energy with some really smart pass vision that allows him to command the middle of the ice well, and he has generated some of the best forechecking results of anyone in my data tracking. He only seemed to get more and more comfortable controlling play from the centre position as the year went on, driving more and more pucks to the net, and attacking defenses better and better. Asking around, his projectability as a centre is a bit of a question, which I can understand, but he has one of the strongest floors in the class. He’s competitive, intense, and makes multiple plays in quick succession to drive play well. The more he wants to be involved the better he’ll get at 5v5, and compared to some of the guys a little later than this slot that I’m sure people will question my sanity about, Zonnon just seems to fit the quick, chaotic world of the modern NHL a bit better than the others with the physicality and energy to push back against any opponent.
Zonnon will add his skillset, size, motor and possibly some centermen possibility if he sticks at that position to help the Pens down the line. Pittsburgh was clearly looking to boost the quality and the forward position group in the 18-20ish year old range for what they have and grabbing Zonnon after previously drafting Ben Kindel early shows a commitment to start stocking the organization up with projectable pro forwards in the years ahead.