WBS PENGUINS: Zonnon off to strong start in pro career

WILKES-BARRE — After a successful weekend on the road, Bill Zonnon and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were back at practice this week preparing for another weekend road trip in Cleveland.

Zonnon just celebrated his 20th birthday earlier this month during the team’s home opener Oct. 3, but the rookie forward isn’t completely new to pro hockey — having joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last spring during their postseason run and ultimately playing in 11 AHL postseason games during the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Zonnon scored a goal in each of his first three games, and finished the postseason with four goals and three assists in 11 appearances.

With a taste of pro hockey and the high-intensity atmosphere of the playoffs fresh in his mind, Zonnon was eager to enter his first full season of pro hockey this fall.

“Ultimately, I think it just helped me come in this year and just be more familiar with all the guys, with the staff, with even the city here, the facilities, all that stuff,” Zonnon said earlier this week.

Having began last season injured, he couldn’t participate in rookie camp and Pittsburgh’s main NHL training camp before heading back to his junior team in the QMJHL, instead skating with other injured players early in the morning and watching the training camp sessions at ice level.

“Obviously, last year I was injured, but I was still there watching the practices. I just tried to learn from that experience as much as I could and obviously going into this year with a good mentality to just try my best,” Zonnon said. “And I think that’s what I did, and it was a great experience. I think I’m going to learn from that and improve.”

While things didn’t go their way in the opening two games of the season on home ice, Zonnon and the Penguins offense got back on track in a big way last weekend with two wins and 13 combined goals.

Zonnon had himself quite the weekend, with two goals and an assist in a 7-1 win in Hartford on Oct. 10 and another goal Oct. 11 in a 6-2 victory in Providence.

“Yeah, Bill was outstanding last weekend.” Penguins coach Kirk MacDonald said. “I don’t think he was bad in the first weekend, but he was definitely more assertive. He was transporting pucks through the neutral zone. He was hanging on to it. I thought he wasn’t deferring in the game. He was trying to take control offensively.”

It wasn’t just getting on the stat sheet for Zonnon, either. MacDonald was complimentary of several aspects of his game.

“He was really good in the faceoff circle, as well. Everything, like his penalty killing, his power plays, every situation he’s getting into he’s doing a really good job, and I thought he took a huge step this past week,” MacDonald said. “Like I said, I think he kind of tried to take control of the game when he was on the ice and he got rewarded for it a lot of times.”

For Zonnon, it’s only four games into his rookie season, but the ability to play and gain first-hand pro experience last year is returning early dividends this fall.

“It’s really exciting. I mean, as kids, we all want to play pro hockey,” Zonnon said. “So now I’m here, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with the guys, winning more games, and seeing what’s going to happen down the line.”

It’s the continued development and work put in on and off the ice that will allow him to build out his game at an important position for the future of the Penguins organization as a youngcenterman.

“I think we have a great staff here, whether it’s in the gym or on the ice. So obviously, I’m spending a lot of time in the gym after practice and before practice, and on the ice, we have great development coaches that are there to help us with whatever we need,” Zonnon said. “And I think skating has been a big thing for me, too, since I got drafted here, and I have support from the whole staff here. They put in a lot of time to help us, so that’s been really good, so far.”

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins saw their two-game win streak halted Friday night in Ohio.

Cleveland’s Steven Lorentz broke a 2-2 tie early in the third period, and James Malatesta’s goal with 40 seconds remaining iced the game as the Monsters beat the Penguins, 4-2, at Rocket Arena.

The two teams will get right back on the ice Saturday for a 3:05 p.m. matchup to end the weekend.

WBS got the start it was looking for. Not even one minute into the contest, Avery Hayes netted his third goal of the year off assists from Tristan Broz and Harrison Brunicke for the 1-0 lead.

After Mikael Pyyhtia’s power-play score tied it at 1, Hayes was back at it — lighting the lamp off assists from Rutger McGroarty and Ilya Solovyov for the 2-1 lead.

But the Monsters scored three straight to improve to 4-1. WBS falls to 2-2-1 and remains in fourth in the Atlantic Division.

The Penguins return home to Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza next weekend, hosting Belleville on Friday and Hartford on Saturday.