Evaluating Zayne Parekh’s impressive pre-season thus far

We are only a few games into the preseason, with the Calgary Flames’ season set to begin in just under two weeks, but there have already been a couple of storylines that we have been keeping our eyes on. None bigger, however, than Zayne Parekh chasing down a roster spot to secure a place on the team for the team’s first game on October 8th. Zayne Parekh’s pre-season play has been very impressive. He looks like he belongs, and he already looks much better than he did during training camp a year ago.

Two games is a small sample size, but what he has shown so far has been nothing less than impressive, and if he keeps going at this rate, a spot with his name on it will be all his when the regular season opens up.

Parekh’s strengths are shining through

Parekh has all of the offensive ability in the world; we have seen that through his junior career and in the one game we saw him play at the NHL level at the end of last season. His hands are elite; he can get his shot through traffic with some serious whip behind it, and he skates like the wind. All of those abilities have been on full display to start the preseason.

He commands the ice when he is out there. With the puck on his stick, he dictates where the play is heading. Whether that is on the breakout or when he has the puck in the offensive zone, he is playing with much more confidence than we saw a year ago. He is bigger, stronger, faster and more in command of himself and his surroundings when he is on the ice.

He has been finding his teammates through seams that we haven’t seen a Flame take advantage of since Johnny Gadureau was a Flame. Parekh is finding passing lanes that almost seem impossible to get the puck through, but he is doing it with ease, and he is finding his teammates. There has been no panic in his game. When he has the puck, he takes his time to ensure he is making the right play. When he is under pressure, he takes every last second he has to make sure he isn’t turning the puck over.

This all seemed extremely tough to manage for Parekh a year ago; you could tell that he just wasn’t processing the game at pro pace just yet. A dominating year in juniors and some time with the NHL club did him wonders. All the plays he wasn’t making a year ago, he is making now. He always had NHL skills, and now he is putting them all on display with more confidence than he has probably ever played with.

Parekh’s defensive game has taken a major step

Now, while it has only been a few games in the preseason, Zayne Parekh’s pre-season play seems to have taken a major leap away from the puck in his own end. Throughout last season, I kept reading about how Parekh’s defensive game was improving, having been below average in his draft year. You can see now that he is much better in his own end. There is still lots of work to do, but he is no longer a complete liability.

Parekh’s skating ability is what can make him an excellent defender. He is flawless, has the speed to catch players on the rush, and his edge work allows him to stay with players down low in the zone. We saw it on full display Tuesday night against the Seattle Kraken. Parekh made numerous very subtle little plays that usually go unnoticed, but I am sure that to the coaching staff, it was noticed.

He isn’t perfect yet, though. There are still some times in his own end that he can get scrambling, and once again, it was evident in the game against the Kraken on their only goal of the night, where Parekh lost his man in front. However, there are going to be growing pains; the NHL is completely different from the OHL. Mistakes are going to be made, and the Flames need to let those happen for him to learn. It is all a part of learning the pro game, and Parekh has his entire career ahead of him to make sure he limits those mistakes because we know he will make up for it on the offensive side of the puck.

Thus far in his own end, the good has more than outweighed the bad, and that is all we can really ask for out of Parekh as he just begins his NHL journey.

A long road ahead

It will be important that the longer camp goes on and the season begins, we will have to temper our expectations for Parekh in his rookie season. Thus far, everything has been going smoothly; he has played well, he is getting praise from the coaching staff, he is being put in a position to succeed, and it looks like he may have already carved a spot out for himself on the opening night roster.

However, Parekh is still a teenager, and as excited as we all are for him to step into the lineup and become a difference maker, it is much more difficult to step into the league and make a major impact on the backend as opposed to a forward. I have all the faith in the world in Parekh, his abilities and his drive to steer it in the right direction, but there will be growing pains.

The good news is that Zayne Parekh’s pre-season play has been very strong, the coaching staff is already trusting him in these games with quarterbacking the top power play unit, and he played a team-high 21 minutes on Tuesday night with a roster that included Kevin Bahl and Jonathan Huberdeau. They are already setting him up to have success, and if this preseason has been any indicator, it is going to be a fun year watching Parekh get accustomed to the NHL.