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<p>Well, we have reached the final installment of our 2024 prospect rankings here at FlamesNation, and we&#8217;re finishing it up with not only the most talented player in the entire Calgary Flames prospect pool but also one of the most talented prospects in the hockey world.</p>
<p>General manager Craig Conroy had a fantastic 2024 NHL Draft, and landing this player with the ninth overall pick was fantastic value, starting the entire event on a very high note.</p>
<h1 class="border-b-accent text-accent mb-5 border-b-2 text-3xl font-bold">Zayne Parekh</h1>
<div class="mb-5"><i>Defenceman, Shoots Right<br />
Born February 15, 2006 (age 18) in Nobleton, Ontario, Canada<br />
6’0”, 185 lbs<br />
Drafted in the first round (9th overall) by the Calgary Flames in the 2024 NHL Draft.</i></div>
<p>If one were to look at Parekh&#8217;s EliteProspects page for only a moment, it might be shocking to see such a jump in production that caused him to be selected where he was in the 2024 draft. His numbers in AAA and junior hockey before last season had some encouraging pieces, but it wasn&#8217;t as encouraging as the numbers would turn out to be.</p>
<p>After scoring just under a point per game in his final year at the U16 AAA level, with 21 points in 23 games, Parekh moved to the OHL to play for the Saginaw Spirit in 2022-23 and 2023-24.</p>
<p>In 2022-23, he played 50 games with the Spirit, hitting the 20-goal mark from the blue line. He scored 37 points in those 50 games while scoring six goals and three assists for nine points in 11 postseason games as a 17-year-old. He was ninth on the team in regular season scoring that year. In addition to a strong first year in the OHL, he played for the Canada Black U17 team, finishing the tournament with five points in seven games, tied for second on the team with four other players &#8212; Utah Hockey Club&#8217;s Cole Beaudoin, Thomas Desruisseaux, the Seattle Kraken&#8217;s Clarke Caswell, and Justin Poirer of the Carolina Hurricanes.</p>
<p>Parekh&#8217;s production jumped in his most recent year in the OHL with the Spirit, pushing him into the top 10 and even top five spots in mock drafts. He played 66 games and scored a whopping 96 points with 33 goals to his name. It was 21 points higher than the next player on the Spirit, Michael Misa, a projected top pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and brother of Flames prospect Luke Misa. He was tied for sixth in league scoring, and his 33 goals were tied for 24th in the league.</p>
<p>As a reminder, this is all happening from a defenceman.</p>
<p>We here at FlamesNation have loved what we&#8217;ve seen of Parekh&#8217;s game and only see more improvements coming for him. When we asked McKeen&#8217;s Hockey&#8217;s Brock Otten about him, there was consensus about that opinion.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;One of the most creative and intelligent offensive defenders that I’ve seen come through the OHL in my lengthy time covering the league. He just rarely makes a mistake or a poor read with the puck. Inside the offensive blueline, he’s so tough to pin down because his feet move in sync with his hands; it gives him elite-level escapability. Inside Saginaw’s free-flowing system, he’s given a ton of freedom to activate and be aggressive. He gets breakaways. He accepts outlet passes streaking up the wing. With that comes cheating the defensive zone for offense, but it’s that classic trade-off…only you’re not used to seeing it from a defender. His game will require refinement at the next level as he learns to reign things in a bit; learning a new system will necessitate patience. There’s definitely a need to improve his defensive play, especially in those higher-traffic areas. He’s not soft, but he needs to get stronger. I also believe that he could stand to improve his explosiveness moving forward and coming out of transitions. He’s a very smooth and fluid skater; his edgework was among the best in this draft class. However, for the NHL level, he’s going to need to get quicker to escape the forecheck and to help him with his transitions to be first to retrievals. The upside here is obviously significant. You’re looking at a primary powerplay quarterback who could be among the league’s top point producers from the backend. The question is, just how much will his defensive game develop and how much will he need to be sheltered at even strength?&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<h2><strong>Expectations for 2024-25</strong></h2>
<p>Parekh will be back with the Spirit in 2024-25, and the expectation for his offensive game is as simple as &#8220;produce more points.&#8221; With another summer of development in his game (and the goal of making it to the NHL pushing him as well), the right-handed defenceman should look to produce more and round out his defensive game. As Brock points out in his scouting report, while the offence is imposing to any team coming up against Parekh, it does come with a fair bit of cheating on defence, which isn&#8217;t going to work at higher levels, whether it be with the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL level or with the Flames at the NHL level.</p>
<p>Parekh is on track to be a very effective producer at the highest level of hockey in the world. However, it&#8217;s going to take playing a much more complete, two-way game to get there as fast as possible.</p>
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<em class="text-lg italic">This article is brought to you by bet365.</em>

Well, we have reached the final installment of our 2024 prospect rankings here at FlamesNation, and we're finishing it up with not only the most talented player in the entire Calgary Flames prospect pool but also one of the most talented prospects in the hockey world.

General manager Craig Conroy had a fantastic 2024 NHL Draft, and landing this player with the ninth overall pick was fantastic value, starting the entire event on a very high note.
<h1 class="border-b-accent text-accent mb-5 border-b-2 text-3xl font-bold">Zayne Parekh</h1>
<div class="mb-5"><i>Defenceman, Shoots Right
Born February 15, 2006 (age 18) in Nobleton, Ontario, Canada
6’0”, 185 lbs
Drafted in the first round (9th overall) by the Calgary Flames in the 2024 NHL Draft.</i></div>
If one were to look at Parekh's EliteProspects page for only a moment, it might be shocking to see such a jump in production that caused him to be selected where he was in the 2024 draft. His numbers in AAA and junior hockey before last season had some encouraging pieces, but it wasn't as encouraging as the numbers would turn out to be.

After scoring just under a point per game in his final year at the U16 AAA level, with 21 points in 23 games, Parekh moved to the OHL to play for the Saginaw Spirit in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

In 2022-23, he played 50 games with the Spirit, hitting the 20-goal mark from the blue line. He scored 37 points in those 50 games while scoring six goals and three assists for nine points in 11 postseason games as a 17-year-old. He was ninth on the team in regular season scoring that year. In addition to a strong first year in the OHL, he played for the Canada Black U17 team, finishing the tournament with five points in seven games, tied for second on the team with four other players -- Utah Hockey Club's Cole Beaudoin, Thomas Desruisseaux, the Seattle Kraken's Clarke Caswell, and Justin Poirer of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Parekh's production jumped in his most recent year in the OHL with the Spirit, pushing him into the top 10 and even top five spots in mock drafts. He played 66 games and scored a whopping 96 points with 33 goals to his name. It was 21 points higher than the next player on the Spirit, Michael Misa, a projected top pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and brother of Flames prospect Luke Misa. He was tied for sixth in league scoring, and his 33 goals were tied for 24th in the league.

As a reminder, this is all happening from a defenceman.

We here at FlamesNation have loved what we've seen of Parekh's game and only see more improvements coming for him. When we asked McKeen's Hockey's Brock Otten about him, there was consensus about that opinion.
<blockquote>"One of the most creative and intelligent offensive defenders that I’ve seen come through the OHL in my lengthy time covering the league. He just rarely makes a mistake or a poor read with the puck. Inside the offensive blueline, he’s so tough to pin down because his feet move in sync with his hands; it gives him elite-level escapability. Inside Saginaw’s free-flowing system, he’s given a ton of freedom to activate and be aggressive. He gets breakaways. He accepts outlet passes streaking up the wing. With that comes cheating the defensive zone for offense, but it’s that classic trade-off…only you’re not used to seeing it from a defender. His game will require refinement at the next level as he learns to reign things in a bit; learning a new system will necessitate patience. There’s definitely a need to improve his defensive play, especially in those higher-traffic areas. He’s not soft, but he needs to get stronger. I also believe that he could stand to improve his explosiveness moving forward and coming out of transitions. He’s a very smooth and fluid skater; his edgework was among the best in this draft class. However, for the NHL level, he’s going to need to get quicker to escape the forecheck and to help him with his transitions to be first to retrievals. The upside here is obviously significant. You’re looking at a primary powerplay quarterback who could be among the league’s top point producers from the backend. The question is, just how much will his defensive game develop and how much will he need to be sheltered at even strength?"</blockquote>
<h2><strong>Expectations for 2024-25</strong></h2>
Parekh will be back with the Spirit in 2024-25, and the expectation for his offensive game is as simple as "produce more points." With another summer of development in his game (and the goal of making it to the NHL pushing him as well), the right-handed defenceman should look to produce more and round out his defensive game. As Brock points out in his scouting report, while the offence is imposing to any team coming up against Parekh, it does come with a fair bit of cheating on defence, which isn't going to work at higher levels, whether it be with the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL level or with the Flames at the NHL level.

Parekh is on track to be a very effective producer at the highest level of hockey in the world. However, it's going to take playing a much more complete, two-way game to get there as fast as possible.
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FlamesNation’s 2024 Calgary Flames prospect rankings #1: Zayne Parekh

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