Parekh was a big pickup for the Flames, someone I think has real star potential. With the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, Parekh is coming off the third most productive U-18 season ever by an OHL defender, and he still has at least another year to go in major junior. There’s no reason to doubt that he won’t become the fourth defender in OHL history to break the 120-point barrier next year and become just the second behind Paul Reinhart in 1978-79 to hit 50 goals. Ryan Ellis is the only player since 2000 to register at least 100 points, doing so on the heels of a 76-assist campaign in 2010-11. Heading into the season, there were questions about whether Parekh tried to do too much with the puck and whether that killed him in his own zone. But he’s got the toolkit to make everything work at both ends, starting with his skating. Parekh isn’t an explosive skater, but he moves well side-to-side and can start and stop on a dime. He’s a manipulator offensively in how he makes you think he’s doing one thing before doing another, and he’s figured out how to use that to his advantage going the other way, too.

After an explosive preseason put Coronato on the map early on, the winger was ultimately sent back to the AHL and finished with just nine points in 34 NHL games. Coronato had an excellent season with the Wranglers, registering 15 goals and 42 points in 41 games while bouncing around the two leagues. His time in the AHL helped him look more confident and dangerous once he got called back up to the big club, and that’s all you can ask for after jumping over from college. Coronato isn’t big, but he’s got some muscle, and he’s still learning how to use it to be more effective. It’ll be interesting to see if he makes the jump to full-time NHL duty this year because I feel like he showed enough down the stretch to warrant a closer look.