Nobody should be more excited for the 1st round of the NHL draft than Nashville Predators fans. With 3 first round draft picks and a wide talent pool, the Predators could feast and bring in some highly skill players who set the fortunes of the franchise for year to come.
The pick the Predators own will be a lottery pick, likely with the 3rd best odds to jump to #1 but staying at #3 won't be bad at all. They'll also have two picks at the back of the 1st round as well. They own the Lightning's draft pick who are 9th overall in the league, and the 1st round pick of the Las Vegas Golden Knights, who are the 4th best team in the league.
The back of the 1st round has plenty of intruiging guys, and is a place where teams make handshake deals and swaps. We're looking at a player that could be available with either pick, but might be one that you have to jump on with the earlier pick. A new type of power forward, Bill Zonnon could be the answer to some of the Nashville Predators woes.
Zonnon Zooms Up Draft Boards
Bill Zonnon has spent the last three seasons with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the QMJHL. Before that he starred for two years at Northwood School, a prestigious prep school in Lake Placid, NY for two years. Northwood has produced NHL talent for decades, and is part of the Prep Hockey Conference, the highest level high school hockey league in the US, featuring schools Shattuck St. Mary's, Culver Academy, Mount St. Charles Academy, South Kent, and St. Andrews. Disclaimer, I was already a Zonnon fan before I found this out, but having gone to Northwood myself, I'm all in on this kid because I know the kind of culture and training he came up through before he got to the Q.
Once he got to the Q, Zonnon became an a consistent scorer and powerful force in the offensive zone. As a rookie he posted a respectable 36 points (16 goals 23 assists) and had another 7 points in 9 playoff games. As he grew more comfortable in the league and started developing his size you saw his offensive game evolve. Season 2 in the Q saw him produce 58 points in 68 games (18 goals, 40 assists) and Zonnon caught on some draft radars.
He uses his size to his advantage, but doesn't spent much time in the box. Last year was his highest PIM total in juniors, at just 32, which wouldn't even be in the top 100 in the league. His goal scoring improved and he showed that he can pick corners with 28 goals, and showed vision and passing that really makes scouts swoon with 55 assists for 83 points total.
The lefty prospect stands at 6'2" and is weighing in at around 190 pounds. He could get a bit thicker with time, but he's got good NHL size already. He's played both center and wing, and has spent some time on the back end during power play settings as well. Strong, tough, Zonnon does what he wants and dares the opposition to stop him.
His shot selection could improve, and he'll need to be stronger in the NHL, but his big question might just be what position does he fit best in? Does he decide to focus on skating and getting extra work on faceoffs? If so maybe he's a center. If he's just focusing on skill work then he's probably best suited to become a winger. He'll have to work on his skating, but that's most players. Really as the foundational skill for the game, ALL players should work on their skating every year until they sign up for beer league.
Finding comparable for Zonnon might be tricky, especially without a position. Could he be a Mason Marchment type? Maybe a Pavel Zacha if he stays a center. An Adam Henrique type player? Since he's had minimal penalty minutes in juniors, it is hard to really compare him to more of the rough and tumble power forwards, but we know that Zonnon doesn't lack physicality and edge in his game, but he doesn't color outside the lines too often.
Here is Zonnon's highlight tape. Watch and start to imagine him in yellow and navy.
Adam Kimelman mocked Zonnon to the Philadelphia Flyers with the 29th pick on NHL.com, which means he's right there for the Predators to snag at 28. Bleacher Report mocked him to the Predators with their earlier pick. We'll wait and see but the Preds have two chances a promising player.