Calgary Might Have to Let Zayne Parekh Be Zayne Parekh
There’s something pretty interesting happening in Calgary with Zayne Parekh. The youngster can really play hockey. That's not exactly breaking news, considering he put up 33 goals and 107 points in just 61 games with Saginaw. Those are ridiculous numbers for a defenceman. In fact, his 107 points were the most ever by a Flames prospect and among the best offensive seasons by an OHL defenceman in recent memory.
But Calgary doesn't really need Parekh to prove that he can score in junior hockey anymore. The question is what happens when he has to do it against NHL players every night. And that's where things get interesting.
Parekh looked at home offensively in his first NHL trial.
Parekh has already had a little taste of the NHL. He played 37 games for Calgary last season and finished with nine points, including four goals. That's obviously nowhere close to his junior numbers, but expecting a 19-year-old defenceman to walk into the NHL and immediately produce the way he did in the OHL would be a little silly anyway.
The temptation might be to look at his defensive game and say, “Well, he's not ready yet.” Maybe he isn't. But that doesn't necessarily mean Calgary should hold him back.
Maybe the better approach is to let Parekh do what he does best and build the rest of his game around that. Give him power-play time. Let him move the puck. Let him use his skating and his instincts. Let him make plays instead of worrying about whether every decision is the safest possible decision.
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Parekh might not be ready for big-time minutes.
That's not to say the Flames should throw him out there for 25 minutes a night and hope for the best. He'll have to learn the defensive side of the NHL game, and he'll probably make some mistakes along the way. But young players don't always develop by being asked to play it safe. Sometimes you have to let them play.
That's especially true with a player like Parekh, who has already shown that his offensive instincts are pretty special. Calgary drafted him ninth overall in 2024, and his junior résumé gives the Flames plenty of reason to believe there's something significant here.
What’s the most important question for Parekh?
So maybe the question isn't whether Parekh is ready to be a complete NHL defenceman. Maybe that's asking the wrong question.
The more interesting question is whether Calgary can give him enough freedom to become the kind of offensive defenceman he has already shown he can be. If the Flames get that part right, Parekh could become one of the more fun young players to watch in Calgary this season.