The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins are vying for their first Calder Cup Championship in franchise history this season, and they already won their division semifinal series against the Hershey Bears and are now looking to defeat the Springfield Thunderbirds to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.
And it looks like a key reinforcement will be added to the fold in order to help them do just that.
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After his QMJHL team was eliminated from the playoffs, 2025 first-round pick (22nd overall) Bill Zonnon recently joined Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate on an amateur tryout (ATO). While other players were released from their ATOs on Sunday, Zonnon and forward Ryan Miller were kept around.
Penguins’ 2025 First-Round Pick Joins WBS On ATO
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Then, WBS head coach Kirk MacDonald confirmed that Zonnon, 19, will make his AHL debut during the Calder Cup Playoffs.
“He’ll be in the lineup at some point, for sure,” MacDonald told Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey.
After being injured at the start of the 2025-26 season – causing him to miss all of training camp – the 6-foot-2, 190-pound forward overcame that injury trouble and put together a solid season for the Blainville-Broisbiand Armada, registering 14 goals and 46 points in 35 games. He was also one of their best players in the playoffs, putting up two goals and 15 points in 17 games.
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The most intriguing thing about Zonnon is how well-developed his all-around game is. He plays a formidable two-way brand of hockey, is physical, has a strong playmaking acumen, and thrives in the danger areas of the ice. He also plays a gritty game, winning puck battles with strong wall play and in open-ice one-on-one matchups.
His mature game gives him a pretty high floor at the NHL level, even if his ceiling isn’t sky-high. Still, this is a player who should be a really solid middle-six contributor for the Penguins for years to come.
WBS opens its best-of-five Atlantic Division Final series against Springfield on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. ET at Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
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