It appears Zayne Parekh will be heading to Team Canada’s selection camp ahead of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship after all.

After being snubbed from Hockey Canada’s initial camp roster, Parekh has been tapped to go anyway as an injury replacement for Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Harrison Brunicke.

Parekh, 18, has eight goals and 30 points in 23 games with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit this season. Semi-retired TSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie broke the news on Friday morning.

The Flames selected Parekh with the No. 9 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft. Despite a so-so start to the 2024-25 campaign, Parekh was widely viewed as a top candidate to play for Team Canada at the World Juniors later this month.

As such, it came as a major surprise to most onlookers when Hockey Canada released its selection camp roster earlier this week and Parekh wasn’t on it. But now, Parekh will have a chance to sway the team’s key decision-makers at camp, which kicks off next week in the host city of Ottawa.

We now also have an explanation for why Utah HC prospect and Calgary fan favourite Tij Iginla won’t be attending the World Juniors: He’s out for the rest of the season after undergoing hip surgery. But that still leaves out Senators pick Carter Yakemchuk, who nearly made the NHL out of training camp this fall after being taken by Ottawa at No. 7 overall.

With Brunicke no longer in the equation, Parekh will be competing for one of seven or eight spots on Team Canada alongside Cam Allen (WSH), Beau Akey (EDM), Oliver Bonk (PHI), Sam Dickinson (SJ), Andrew Gibson (NSH), Tanner Molendyk (NSH), Sawyer Mynio (VAN), Caden Price (SEA), and Matthew Schaefer (2025).

Dickinson and Bonk are widely believed to be frontrunners for spots, themselves being the top pairing on the London Knights, one of the OHL’s top teams. Molendyk and Schaefer have also staked strong claims to make the team. But with a bit of extra motivation after his initial snub, Parekh should be capable of turning heads and changing minds if he shows his best stuff.

The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship will take place at Canadian Tire Centre and TD Place Arena in Ottawa from December 26, 2024 to January 5, 2025.