2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Bill Zonnon

Upside Hockey's NHL Draft profile series: Aces Edition, Vol. 1

Upside Hockey’s prolific prospect profiler Trevor Curtis’s 2025 NHL draft eligible prospect profiles are all featured on our dedicated page for this with all featured prospects indexed in our table of contents alphabetically by last name. For the 2024 NHL Draft, we had well over 200 prospect profiles completed.

Draft Thoughts (Aces Edition, Vol. 1):

C/LW Bill Zonnon (6'2", 190lbs)

Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL): 64gp/ 28g/ 55a/ 83pts, +5, 32 PIM

Many outlets are still listing Bill Zonnon (ranked # 31 NA Skaters, # 34 by McKenzie, #18 by Button) as a left-winger, but he's been playing C all year for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, and he has looked like a natural in that position. The Huskies were 5th-best in the Q this season, but were eliminated from the playoffs by the powerful Moncton Wildcats in the Semi-Finals, in 4 games- with Zonnon contributing 8 goals and 16 points in 13 post-season contests.

Photo via LHJMQ

Zonnon, who is old by draft standards with an Oct. 3rd, 2006 birthday, was chosen by Rouyn-Noranda in the 2022 QMJHL Draft, 6th-overall, and was tied for 7th in scoring in the regular-season, with 83 points in 64 games. He is an ultra hard-working power-forward with a solid 200-foot game, who succeeds as an offensive producer despite employing a very simple game, and possessing no real dynamic traits.

Zonnon's skating deficiencies have been largely exaggerated; his stride is quite awkward looking, perhaps a little bow-legged on a wide stance, with too much of a heel-kick in his start-up, and he needs to add strength to his lower-body to gain more power, but he still manages to generate decent forward mobility- above-average speed-wise. His mobility is amplified by his extra-long looking legs, his high-end work-ethic, and his robust activity-rate, and he has a peppy short-burst at his disposal when needed. A lot of work is needed to clean up his mechanics in order to make his stride more efficient, and to improve his agility; even still, he seems to be able to make rather tight turns and quick pivots on his edges, and gains good speed out of his crossovers. He has no problem at all in pushing pace, as well- in fact, it's a standout strength.

Though he employs a fairly direct style, he possesses excellent playmaking vision and hockey-sense, with the ability to execute difficult passes across the ice, and through traffic. He understands how to open seams by drawing pressure, and employs deception tactics to manipulate defenses. He can catch as well as dish-off while in-motion, finds teammates in high-danger with regularity, and can complete saucers, slips, hooks, and bank-passes to give recipients an advantage.

A lot of Zonnon's game is facilitated by his sky-high compete, intensity, and work-ethic, and he is blessed with an unrelenting motor; he usually plays over 20 minutes a night for the Huskies. With a rugged physical game, he dominates along the boards, uses his frame well, and wins more than his fair share of puck-battles with sheer determination; he never gives up on a play, gives 2nd and 3rd-efforts, outworks his opponents, and throws his weight around to dislodge pucks.

He has a business-like approach in physical confrontations though, as he's not particularly mean, and doesn't play with an edge- he hits hard, but hits clean, and doesn't take many unnecessary penalties. Most of his goals are scored in-tight, but he has a knack for locating shooting lanes, and exhibits a hard shot that can pop water-bottles, pick corners, and find it's way through five-holes, with a quick and deceptive release.

Z attacks the middle of the ice for scoring opportunities, drives the net to pick-up garbage, and gets off the wall with the puck. He will fire low on-net to make plays in creating rebound opportunities for teammates, and plants himself in front of the net to cause chaos, set up a screen, fish for rebounds around the crease, and cause headaches for opposing defensemen with how hard he is to move.

Zonnon displays keen off-puck awareness and intelligence to always be supportive of the play in all three zones, and to always be in position as a playable option for teammates. He finds gaps in the slot to await high-danger passes, and will sneak behind defenders with his stick on the ice to be open and ready. He forechecks with pace, physicality, and pressure, and pushes defenses back in transition.

With solid puck-skill, he shows tight control at high-speed, soft-touch passing, and even some one-on-one moves and deception to separate from defenders, and stickhandle in tight-areas. Z is an excellent defensive forward, and proficient penalty-killer, who exhibits spotless positioning, and backtracks hard in an effort to disturb plays in the neutral zone.

He reads the play well in the defensive-third, while applying overwhelming effort and tenacity, attacking puck-carriers aggressively, and imposing himself physically. He aids his defensemen in front of the net, and supports them in battles below the goal-line. Many say that Z might have to clean up his skating mechanics to be considered at center at the next level, but his speed and pace don't seem to be a big problem.

His faceoffs though, will need to be fixed, as he was 48.9 % on the dot this season- not horrible, but certainly not a strength of his. His age works against him, but look for Zonnon in the second-half of the first-round, with an easy top-six projection to the NHL.

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See where Zonnon landed in our most recent mock draft: