NHL training camp is underway, and that means regular-season hockey is a few short weeks away. The Calgary Flames will have some difficult decisions to make with their final roster, especially those related to offense. The Flames have struggled to score for a number of years. Somehow, the Flames accomplished a 98-point regular season last year despite finishing 29th in the NHL in goals per game.
Part of that offensive struggle can be attributed to an inefficient power play, finishing the season 19th overall with a 21% success rate. With the Flames in desperate need of more offence this season, we wanted to know who fans think should quarterback the top power play to start the year. We asked, you answered.
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Who should quarterback the Flames’ top power play unit?
We presented the below poll to our readers:
Zayne Parekh
Zayne Parekh finishes second in this week’s poll, collecting just over a third of votes. There’s no question Parekh has the ability, scoring 92 points on the power play across his three seasons in the OHL with the Saginaw Spirit. It’s kind of his bread and butter.
Parekh’s a natural playmaker, and his confidence and deception with the puck make him dangerous at the helm of a power play. There’s no question Zayne Parekh will one day QB the Flames’ top unit, but it might be early to throw him into the first group.
The 2025–26 season will be Parekh’s first full season of professional hockey, and there will be a learning curve to some degree. He showed in his first NHL game that he can hang with the pros, but I don’t imagine Ryan Huska likes costly turnovers on the power play. It might take a minute to earn trust—start him on PP2—but Parekh will get his chance if the coaching staff is apprehensive to start the season.
MacKenzie Weegar
Almost half of the respondents in this week’s poll selected MacKenzie Weegar. Weegsy wins the popular vote with a near majority. It appears Flames fans agree with the aforementioned assessment of Parekh. It’ll take some time.
Plus, Weegar is no slouch on the power play. He’s played solid minutes on the Flames’ man advantage over the past couple of seasons as his opportunity has increased. In the past two seasons, Weegar has tallied seven power play goals and 36 power play points. He’s also shot incredibly well on the power play, converting on 40.8% of his power play shots.
Weegar has proven he can lead a power play unit and has developed chemistry with Flames such as Matt Coronato and Jonathan Huberdeau. With Weegar in the running for Canada’s Olympic team this winter, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the two-way defender lead the Flames’ top power play to start the season.
Rasmus Andersson
Rasmus Andersson has been the story of the summer in Calgary, unfortunately. It appears the D-man will not be a distraction heading into the regular season as he begins the season with the Flames. Andersson collected roughly an eighth of the votes this week, good enough for third in the poll.
Andersson has had success on the Flames’ power play in the past. Across 2021–22 and 2022–23, Andersson scored 40 points on the man advantage for the Flames, collecting a plethora of assists. Since then, his offensive production has regressed in all situations.
There’s no question that Andersson has struggled the past few seasons. Although the veteran D-man has proven his playmaking ability in the past, the changing of the guard has come with Parekh. Maybe he gets a shot on PP2 to try and up-sell his value? Even then, I’m not sure.
Daniil Miromanov
Sorry, Daniil Miromanov, only 3% of votes went your way this week…
Three-horse race
Weegar seems as though he’s a shoo-in for one of the two spots, and Parekh will no doubt be nipping on Andersson’s heels if he is given the opportunity to quarterback one of the two units. Overall, the Flames have a decent duo of Parekh and Weegar, with Andersson as a solid backup option.
Whatever the choice may be, the Flames need more success on the power play if they want to try to improve on what was an impressive showing last year.
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