Gang, the Calgary Flames are represented by two prospects at the 2026 World Junior Championship tournament, which begins on Boxing Day.

On paper, the Flames have two exciting young players suiting up for Canada at the event. But the stakes for these two players seem much, much different. So rather than having a singular Flames perspective for this preview, let’s look at things through the lenses of the two Flames representatives, Zayne Parekh and Cole Reschny, and examining what success looks like for each of them at this event.

Gang, Parekh’s 2025-26 season looked challenging on paper when it began and it has been challenging on the ice, as well.

A 19-year-old who the Flames drafted at ninth overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, Parekh is a really fun junior hockey player. He skates well. He moves the puck well. He can pass or shoot at the junior level with ease, and the sheer chasm in skill between him and many major-junior opponents – even highly skilled ones – often projected in Parekh’s on-ice nonchalance coming across as cockiness. In his draft year, Parekh had 33 goals and 96 points and led the Saginaw Spirit to a Memorial Cup win. In his Draft+1 year, he had 33 goals and 107 points. (When you put up unprecedented offensive numbers… yeah, maybe there could be some cockiness…)

He entered the 2025-26 season with nothing left to prove at the junior level, but due to the CHL-NHL Transfer Agreement, he was locked into playing in the NHL or returning to junior. With this non-choice, he was forced into the challenging reality of learning how to play hockey in the toughest possible environment to do so. Moreover, he was trying to figure out the NHL during a historically rough start for the Flames.

And then to add to what must’ve been a frustrating situation, Parekh suffered an injury and missed about six weeks before heading to World Junior camp.

The Flames probably aren’t going to make the playoffs, the first season of Parekh’s entry-level deal has been tolled, and he probably won’t end up as a contender for the Calder Trophy this season. What’s done is done. But with half of the NHL season left to go, the big question is how the World Juniors can set up Parekh for his return to the NHL. Simply put: the World Juniors need to help get Parekh his swagger back.

Parekh’s a smart hockey player, and we have no doubt that he can study video to reinforce the checking details of Ryan Huska’s Flames system. But what made Parekh so exciting in junior, and as a prospect, was his ability to use his speed, smarts and skill to almost toy with his opponents. He could move the puck incredibly well with the Spirit and while much of his production was skewed towards the power play, he was pretty dangerous at even strength, too. He had the confidence – bordering on audacity – to do really exciting things with the puck.

Parekh begins the 2026 World Juniors on Canada’s top pairing alongside Nashville Predators prospect Cameron Reid. He’ll be quarterbacking the first unit power play, too. If Parekh can consistently generate offensive zone time, at both five-on-five and the power play, and help his team put up scoring chances and points, it’ll go a long way towards boosting his confidence.

There’s a pretty decent chance that in the next month or two, the Flames will move an incumbent NHL blueliner and open up an opportunity to create offence at the NHL level. The more confidence and swagger Parekh has coming out of the World Juniors, the better his chances at success if/when that opportunity arises.

While the 2026 edition of the World Juniors is the last chance in that tournament for Parekh, it’s the first (of potentially two) chances for Cole Reschny, the Flames’ 18th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

While Parekh has had a challenging season adapting to the NHL, Reschny has adapted really well as he’s moved from the Western Hockey League to the NCAA. It does help that Reschny moved to a pretty strong University of North Dakota team, but he’s used the skills that helped him thrive in the WHL to help him do the same in the NCAA.

Reschny is usually one of North Dakota’s top centres in all game situations – as an 18-year-old freshman, mind you. For Team Canada, he’s going to be starting off as a third line winger alongside Utah Mammoth prospect Cole Beaudoin and Philadelphia Flyers prospect Jett Luchanko. Reschny will also be part of both sides of special teams, serving on the top power play unit (with Parekh) and the top penalty kill unit. Given his role, he doesn’t really need to hit any particular offensive benchmarks for his tournament to be considered a success.

Reschny has had a strong freshman year and there’s a lot of flexibility going forward; he hasn’t signed an entry-level deal quite yet, so he could return to college for his sophomore year (or not) and he’ll remain eligible for the 2027 World Juniors, too. The 2026 tournament could do a lot to continue growing his game and help set him (and North Dakota) up for the home stretch of their regular season… but he’s very much playing with house money right now.

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