Bill Zonnon makes immediate impact with three goals in first three AHL games

Sergei Murashov’s 27 saves held the line in Springfield, but Bill Zonnon supplied the edge that put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ahead in the Atlantic Division Final. The 19-year-old scored for the third straight game to start his pro career, helping the Penguins beat the Thunderbirds 2-1 and take a 2-1 series lead on Tuesday at the MassMutual Center.

That goal was more than a tidy debut note. Zonnon has scored in all three of his AHL games, beginning with his first pro goal in a 2-0 win over Springfield, then adding another in a 4-3 overtime loss before delivering again in Game 3. For Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, that kind of instant finish has changed the shape of the lineup. A late-arriving prospect is not supposed to step into playoff hockey and immediately become a scoring threat every night, yet Zonnon has done exactly that.

The Penguins brought him in on an amateur tryout agreement after he finished his QMJHL season, and the speed of his adjustment has matched the organization’s belief in him. Pittsburgh took Zonnon 22nd overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, one of the club’s three first-round selections that year, and then signed him to a three-year entry-level contract in March 2026 that begins in 2026-27 and runs through 2028-29.

His first three games suggest why the Penguins are so intrigued. Before stepping on the ice, Zonnon had already studied the team’s systems, a detail that stood out to the staff as a sign of maturity and competitiveness. That readiness has shown up in his game. At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, he has looked strong enough to hold his ground and quick enough to finish chances, giving Wilkes-Barre/Scranton another young weapon in a series where every goal has carried extra weight.

The production also fits the rest of his track record. Zonnon’s 2025-26 junior season was interrupted by injury, but he still posted 14 goals, 32 assists and 46 points in 35 games for Blainville-Boisbriand, a 1.31 points-per-game pace that ranked 11th in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. He then led the Armada with 13 assists in the playoffs and finished third on the team with 15 postseason points as Blainville-Boisbriand reached the league semifinals before falling in seven games to Moncton.

He was even more productive the season before, piling up 83 points in 64 games with Rouyn-Noranda, including 55 assists that led the Huskies. Now, after three straight games with a goal, Zonnon has moved from prospect status to playoff factor, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has a fresh scoring lane that could matter well beyond this series.