The start of the 2025–26 season is around the corner with a training camp. While the Calgary Flames keep pushing their youth movement, many prospects will try to insist on schedules. At the top of those prospects for the Flames is clearly Zayne Parekh. With its dominance in the OHL the previous two seasons and no AHL option, it almost seems to be a lock that Parekh will spend the following season with the Flames.
With his talents, Parekh fills a gap on the back-end of the flames as an attack weapon. The type of player who plays one of the two power and will stimulate a majority of the attack from the defensive core. Parekh awaits the chance, but how it is shown him in his first season will influence his place in the Calder Trophy Race.
How Parekh could be used in his Rookie season
It is never ideal to play a defender in the NHL when he is 19 years old. However, this season will probably be the case for Parekh and the flames. Even with the talent of Parekh, you never want to throw your young player at the wolves. Teams usually protect their younger defenders to avoid, but sometimes the talent flashes too much to ignore. With the situation that occurs, there are quite a few different ways in which the flames can use Parekh this season.
Sheltered role
As it is currently, the right side of the Flames Mackenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson and Brayden Pachal. Perekh was able to easily remove Pachal’s place on the third pair, but after that some effort can come. Weegar and Andersson are experienced top-four defenders. It is usually not the types of players who overturn Rookies.
With the current top-two right-handed defenders, we could see Parekh play a limited role for his Rookie year. Third few minutes with a more defensive partner, plus some time on the second Power Play. This would be a fairly simple way to illuminate him in the NHL while playing in his strengths. He may not absolutely set the competition in this situation, but it can be a way to ensure that he is not convinced.
Tranquility
Another way that I can see that the flames take to illuminate Perekh in professional hockey does not play him every evening. This would be similar to how the Anaheim -ducks used a few seasons ago Leo Carlsson for his Rookie year. The ducks would be a healthy scratch every few games. This was not due to poor performance, but so Carlsson was able to freshen up by viewing the game from an outdoor view and keeping its conditioning at a high level.
The flames can do this fairly easily with porekh. With their stuffed right side, Pachal could rotate before the nights they want Perekh to rest. Parekh has played tons of hockey for the past two years. Having a year in which he fits 50-60% of the competitions can do well for his endurance. History has also demonstrated with players such as Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale that the locks of a teenage defender to play a solid role can stunt their growth, especially in the defensive end.
Top-four minutes
When Parekh shows tons of his skills and potential, he may work his way to a top-four role. His path to the top four can actually be very simple. To begin with, Weegar can play the left side, which would open a possible position for Perekh to enter the top four, possibly with Weegar as a partner.
On the other side of things, the actions of Andersson seems more like one when at the moment. So when the deal comes, Parekh could slide into the position that Andersson fills. Both are quite feasible options that would see him in addition to a defensive responsible partner in Weegar or Kevin Bahl.
The Calder Trophy Race
The Rookie class 2025–26 seems to be very nice to look at. Rookies come from Russia, make a career at the university or make the leap of the CHL. Parekh will certainly be part of the pleasure.
Class
To be honest, it seems to be a great year for Rookies. Ivan Demidov of the Montreal Canadiens must be the current favorite for the Calder -Trophy. However, the group that follows him also has tons of talent. Highly regarded prospects across the board with Alexander Nikishin with the Carolina Hurricanes, Jimmy Snugguddaud for the St. Louis Blues, Zeev Buium with the Minnesota Wild, and Ryan Leonard who adapted to the Washington Capitals.
It would not surprise me if Isaac Howard and Matt Savoie were successful in the top-six-six of the Edmonton Oilers to strengthen the swimming pool. Sam Rinzel looked impressive when he joined the Chicago Blackhawks at the end of last season, and Artyom Levshunov is there too. You cannot count the top-two choices of the design in Matthew Schaefer or Michael Misa.
The list continues with talented players who can step in and relieve them. It is really difficult to name them all. So, where does Parekh fit in? Does Parekh have a chance to win? Or even just sit high? To be honest, I think he does that. It would not be strange to say that Parekh is the most talented of the group behind only Demidov. I think some players are ready to play a higher role and/or have a more mature game than Perekh, but if you only had to use talent, Parekh is at the top.
How parekh could place in the race
The dominance of Parekh in the attacking zone, in combination with his Smarts, makes it very difficult to believe that he will not find a success. The only thing that can prevent him from being placed high is the role he is served. In a perfect world, Parekh has a Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes-like Rookie season, immediately showing that he will be one of the best defenders in the competition. But that feels much more like a dream than on reality.
I think there is a good chance that the Flames Parekh will play in a limited role. Whether it concerns minutes from third pairs, resting him every few competitions, or both. The flames get a very difficult situation in which they cannot steer Parekh to mature at higher competition in the AHL or NCAA. He is also too good for the OHL, so he has to stay in the NHL. The issue is that the defense of Parekh is still shaky, and in general it is not a brilliant idea to play a 19-year-old defender in the NHL, especially an offensive one. One of the few realistic ways to combat these issues is to give Parekh a relaxed way in the NHL.
Under all the rookies for this season, if I had to choose one to exceed expectations, I would be easy to choose Parekh. Although I think the limited role of a realistic outcome, I also see Parekh playing so well that he forces his way to a top-four role. No historical season, but one where he places 45-55 points while he gets time on both Power Play units. It would be very difficult not to see him high on the Calder ranking list if that is the case.
The placement of Parekh in the Calder -Vooding all depends on his commitment. Not really a shocking discovery. If Parekh gets one of the limited routes, I see him placing in the sixth to 10th reach of the best rookies. A more mature game at the end of it as a reward for sacrificing an opportunity.
But his talent, Smarts and Drive make it easy to bet on him and forces himself his way up the ranking. If Parekh can secure a big top-four role early, there is a somewhat decent chance that he could win the Calder about the favorite in Demidov. I actually think it is about as realistic for Parekh to end the top three in Calder, because it is for him to be in that reach that I mentioned earlier.
A season that will be fun
The Calder Trophy Race this season is certainly fun to watch. There are a lot of talented players who enter the competition, and Parekh is in the middle of all this. How high parekh places in the race is highly dependent on how the flames choose to implement it. Limited ice age would probably sacrifice the race to concentrate on getting the best development he can.
Or Parekh can make an impression and are one of the best rookies in the competition, which shows little struggle against the best of the best. Regardless of what is positive to follow Parekh.
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