Ready to contribute
Zayne Parekh had an impressive NHL debut last season, scoring a goal and playing 20:13 in Calgary’s final regular-season game. The 19-year-old defenseman, who was selected by the Flames with the No. 9 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, is a talented offensive defenseman who had 107 points (33 goals, 74 assists) in 61 regular-season games and nine points (two goals, seven assists) in five playoff games for Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League last season. He is expected to play full-time in the NHL this season.
Fantasy sleeper with EDGE stats
Zayne Parekh, D: The rookie scored a midrange goal in his NHL debut, which was his only game last season, and joins a deep group of fantasy defensemen for Calgary, which also has MacKenzie Weegar and another proven point producer in Rasmus Andersson (NHL career-high 50 points in 2021-22). Parekh, who led OHL defensemen in goals and points (fifth among all players) last season for Saginaw, joins Wolf among NHL.com’s top-40 keeper rankings and should be considered a fringe top-five rookie for this season. — Pete Jensen
Projected lineup
Jonathan Huberdeau — Nazem Kadri — Connor Zary
Blake Coleman — Mikael Backlund — Matt Coronato
Joel Farabee — Morgan Frost — Yegor Sharangovich
Ryan Lomberg — Martin Pospisil — Adam Klapka
Kevin Bahl — Rasmus Andersson
Joel Hanley — Mackenzie Weegar
Jake Bean — Zayne Parekh
Dustin Wolf
Ivan Prosvetov