Calgary Flames fans were obviously disappointed when first-round pick Zayne Parekh was not selected for the 2025 World Juniors, and rightly so. Parekh had 34 points in 25 games at the time the Team Canada roster was selected. Dave Cameron and company elected to take defensive defenceman Andrew Gibson, who has 11 points on the season.
Then Team Canada struggled mightily on the ice in the tournament, eventually being knocked out by Czechia in the quarterfinals. The key area of challenge for the team was their power play, as the team did not have an effective power play quarterback to really make a difference. This is where Parekh could have been a difference-maker.
But, despite throwing some shade at Team Canada during the tournament, Parekh has shown how much Canada missed him on the ice in the OHL.
Parekh is on fire
In the seven games since the World Juniors ended on January 5, Parekh has put up a whopping nine goals and 16 points in seven games. This includes two hat-tricks as well as a four-point night against Cameron’s Ottawa 67’s.
Even before the matchup against Team Canada’s coach, Parekh broke a Spirit record, becoming the team’s all-time leader in points by a defenceman with 183 over his career:
Parekh is now up to 59 points in 39 games, putting him on a ridiculous 1.51 point-per-game pace this year. This puts him 16th in the league in scoring, tied with fellow Flames prospect Jacob Battaglia, and one behind also Flames prospect Henry Mews. The latter leads all OHL defencemen in points this year, with Parekh on a pace to pass him before the year is up.
Parekh is on track to put up 95 points this year, one shy of the 96 he put up last season with the Memorial Cup-winning Saginaw Spirit. Only three defencemen in OHL history have put up back-to-back 90+ point seasons, and only one has done so in his draft year and D+1 years, and that is Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy.
Good things to come
Parekh is an incredibly special player and one who Flames fans should be exceptionally excited about. While he will need a year or two of seasoning before he’s NHL-ready, he should be a special player down the line here.
