On Saturday in Niagara Falls, Calgary Flames defenceman Zayne Parekh did something he hasn’t done a lot of over the past month: he participated in a full practice. Only this time, it was at Hockey Canada’s World Junior training camp in Niagara Falls, as Parekh prepares to suit up for the national junior team for the first time.

“I’ve done a contact skate [with the Flames],” noted Parekh, speaking to reporters after the first on-ice session. “But when you’re in the NHL, skates are really only morning skates and you’re not getting any bumps. Definitely shied into it at first, but I felt really good. Like, my shoulder feels good. Maybe a little bit behind in the conditioning.”

For the first couple of days of Canada’s training camp, Parekh has been situated on the right side of a pairing alongside Cameron Reid, the current captain of the Kitchener Rangers and a first-round selection in 2025 by the Nashville Predators. Parekh liked the potential of the duo, likening them to the Zeev Buium/Cole Hutson pairing for the United States at last year’s event.

“He was telling me that he’s just gonna let me go and just kinda do my thing,” said Parekh. “And I told him, I’m like, well, you’re just as good as I am with the puck and we’re going to find some chemistry there and it’s going to be, I think, a really good D pairing.”

Parekh has been with the Flames all season, but hasn’t played since suffering an injury back on Nov. 7. Parekh spoke about how well he’s been treated by the Flames locker room, singling out MacKenzie Weegar, Brayden Pachal and Joel Hanley, but also noted his excitement being around a younger group at the World Juniors.

“It’s nice to be around a bunch of young kids again, not adults,” said Parekh. “Because here, we’re going to hang out every second of the day. It’s really different in the NHL where guys have families and kids. It’s tough to really spend time away from the rink with those guys. It’s really nice to be in this environment again, I miss it.”

Parekh noted that he’s been working on his play away from the puck while with the Flames, explaining the focus was “using his brain instead of kind of running around.” But he seems to have a pretty clear focus returning to the under-20 level for the next little bit.

“I’m just trying to build some more confidence so that when I go back, I can make the plays I know I’m capable of,” said Parekh.

(With files from Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis.)

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