The Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to get younger on their NHL roster. They proved that more recently last season when Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke made the opening night roster. But they have another player in Bill Zonnon looking to make this season’s opening night roster.
Zonnon was in the same draft class and the same round (first round in 2025) as Kindel was. Zonnon was the Penguins second first-round selection in 2025 behind Kindel and then came Will Horcoff.
Zonnon actually got into a few playoff games for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins this past season and looked ready. But it is all about showing up and showing out at this year’s NHL training camp and impressing Dan Muse and Kyle Dubas enough. The kid has the talent.
Bill Zonnon fits the timeline of what the Penguins want in their roster
It is no secret that the Penguins along with Dubas and Muse want to make the team younger, faster, and hard to play against. Zonnon fits that bill as he was a first-round pick in 2025 and is quite fast and uses his size to frustrate opponents.
Zonnon should have plenty of opportunities to find his game and impress the staff in camp coming up soon and in any preseason games he gets into. His experience in Wilkes-Barre being able to play playoff games and score a few goals, is huge for his chances for this year’s NHL roster.
Bill Zonnon is a guy that was really valued in the 2025 draft class and Dubas took a swing on him. It is not yet known if the pick has paid off as the kid has not been able to debut with the Penguins yet.
It says a lot that Zonnon was able to go from his junior team to Wilkes-Barre on the fourth line to even in the top six in a span of a few games. It is clear that especially in the AHL that he is trusted enough to go from the bottom six to the top six in a hurry.
Penguins fans should be excited to see Bill Zonnon and what he can do in training camp and the preseason coming up. It is not necessarily a lock for the kid to make the opening night roster, but he has a chance.
Even if Zonnon does not make the opening night roster, he would start the year in Wilkes-Barre and that would not be bad for his development. He would certainly get a call to Pittsburgh at some point in the season to get a crack with the veterans.
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