The Calgary Flames could have two of their most exciting young players – and two of their most recent first-round picks – wearing the maple leaf over the winter holidays. On Monday, Hockey Canada announced its preliminary roster for the upcoming 2026 World Junior Championship. Included on that roster were defenceman Zayne Parekh and forward Cole Reschny, who would be the only Flames representatives at this year’s event.

Parekh, 19, was the first of two Flames first-round picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, taken ninth overall. He’s emerged as one of the most exciting young blueliners in NHL prospect circles: he posted back-to-back 33 goal seasons and he was the first Ontario Hockey League blueliner since Ryan Ellis (in 2010-11) to post 100 points. With nothing left to prove at the OHL level, he departed the Saginaw Spirit this fall to join the Flames in the NHL. He’s faced a bit of a learning curve and recently been out with an injury, but he’s being loaned to the Canadian national junior team by the Flames with the hope that he can get his swagger back.

After all, we’ve learned over the past few seasons that Zayne Parekh with swagger is a very, very scary thing for the opposition.

Meanwhile, Reschny, 18, was the first of two Flames first-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft, taken 18th overall. He was a star centre with the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals for a couple seasons, including a splendid second half and playoffs in the 2024-25 season. He opted to pursue college hockey in the first wave of high-end NHL prospects to head to the NCAA for the 2025-26 season, joining the University of North Dakota. He’s adapted really quickly to that level, and is serving as first line centre and a difference-maker for a very good Fighting Hawks team as a true freshman.

Hockey Canada is conducting a training camp rather than a selection camp, and consequently has opted to name far fewer players to their preliminary roster than in years past. Nonetheless, there will be some roster cuts. We would suspect that Parekh’s status as an NHLer means that he’s a virtual lock to be on the final roster, while Reschny may still need to prove himself a bit.

Canada’s training camp runs Dec. 12-23 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The World Juniors run Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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