Folks, the Calgary Flames were pretty excited when they selected defenceman Zayne Parekh in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft. Two years later, just before the 2026 entry draft, they executed a pretty significant trade, sending a bunch of picks to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for blueliner Simon Nemec.

As a result, as the 2026-27 season looms before us, the Flames will likely feature one of the most exciting OHL blueliners in decades and one of the most exciting European defensive prospects in years on their blueline at the same time. Both players are offensive-minded, puck-moving, up-tempo players. Both are likely still developing into what they will become as NHLers, and getting puck touches on the power play will be crucial for each player’s development.

Is there enough power play time available for both Nemec and Parekh?

The short answer is yes.

Last season, playing behind Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes in New Jersey, Nemec was a power play regular… but he wasn’t a primary option. He ended up averaging 1:14 of power play ice time per game, roughly a minute less per game than Hamilton and Hughes.

Here’s what he told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti at the recent European Player Media Tour:

Meanwhile, Parekh really found his swagger on the power play in 2025-26. He initially played behind both Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar, but he became the primarily power play defender after those two veterans were traded. He ended up averaging 2:22 of power play time per game, a bit behind Andersson and a bit ahead of Weegar.

If the Flames are average league-wide at drawing power plays, they would have around 388 power play minutes on the season, or about 4:45 per game. If they run two units, one quarterbacked by Nemec and one by Parekh, and split the ice time evenly, that’s 2:22 per game. So Parekh’s PP ice time would not change, and Nemec’s would nearly double. Considering the PP struggled for big chunks of 2025-26, running two units and making them compete for ice time makes a lot of sense.

But we wouldn’t discount Ryan Huska and Cail MacLean going ham once in awhile and loading up a “super unit” with both Nemec and Parekh just to see what kind of chaos that duo could create. (Close your eyes and imagine the likes of Nemec, Parekh, Jonathan Huberdeau, Matvei Gridin and Matt Coronato on a man advantage…)

In other words: in terms of power play time, three’s a crowd, but with just Nemec and Parekh to prioritize on the blueline, there shouldn’t be any challenges getting them both their reps.

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