Managing Zayne Parekh’s minutes will be one of the most important challenges the Calgary Flames face this season.
Long-term, the team sees him as one of their “elite” players, in the words of head coach Ryan Huska. They just need to help him get there.
Already on Monday, you could see it becoming a divisive topic.
While the news that the 19-year-old blueliner officially was sticking around with the NHL team was celebrated among Calgary hockey fans, there was plenty of social media outrage when it was revealed he’s unlikely to be on the opening night roster against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
Managing Parekh’s usage will be a season-long process that begins immediately. There are going to be nights where he watches from the press box. There should be others where he’s the star of the show.
If the Flames coaching staff judge that throwing him to the wolves and matching him up against Connor McDavid & Co. in a heated Battle of Alberta on opening night was inadvisable, that probably shouldn’t shock anyone.
Parekh is a teenager with superstar potential and the Flames know they need to get his development right.
“We want to be able to help (Parekh) succeed and that means sometimes if you’re sensing some things or he’s wearing down a bit, we have to find ways to re-energize him and we have to find ways to help him in certain situations,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said. “If that means sitting out a game or two, that’s not a bad thing for a young guy.
“They have to know we believe in them and they’re going to come back in and we want you to use this break, there’s a purpose for it. As long as the communication’s good with the player they’ll understand it. It’s not about us feeling like if he misses a game or two, it’s the end of the world. That’s not it at all. We’re looking at this guy as a long-term, elite player for us.”
If the Flames have a plan for how many games Parekh will play this season, they’re not sharing it publicly two days before the puck drops for opening night.
Keeping him on the NHL roster, though, can and should be taken as proof of how highly they think of him. That the Flames also kept another 19-year-old, Matvei Gridin, suggests that the future truly has arrived.
Neither teenager is anywhere near their full potential, though, and balancing their development while staying in playoff contention is going to be one of the most important challenges facing Huska and his staff.
They need to get it right. Parekh is a centrepiece of the organization’s retool.
Calgary Flames defenceman Zayne Parekh smiles during the first day of training camp at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025.
Even the best young players are going to make mistakes, though. That’s to be expected. At the same time, players with Parekh’s skill set can be game-changers. The Flames will have to weigh the invaluable experience that a young defenceman can gain by playing against the best players in the world with the ups and downs that pop up throughout a long, gruelling season for Parekh.
“You look at a goaltender and we can talk about Dustin Wolf and how he spent a lot of time with the Wranglers. There’s a reason for it,” Huska explained. “It gives him the experience against pro shooters and then you work him into it little bits at a time until eventually we feel like he’s ready to run with it.
“It’s kinda the same for a defenceman. They don’t have a lot of people backing them up if a mistake is made. It’s partially a young player’s job to understand the ins and outs of the game as he moves along and it’s a coach’s job to put him in positions where he’s going to succeed. We take that seriously.”
The difference between Wolf and Parekh is that while the Flames’ shot-stopper got a few years to develop in the AHL, Parekh is too young to play in that league. He has nothing left to gain from playing in junior, either, so much of his development will happen under the bright lights of the NHL.
Throughout the pre-season, Parekh showed he can quarterback an NHL power play. His skating and vision already are exceptional and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get some 5-on-4 playing time sooner rather than later.
The defensive side of his game is a work in progress. Again, though, that’s exactly what you’d expect from a 19-year-old.
“There’s a lot of work (to do). It never stops,” Parekh said. “There’s always someone hungrier or chasing you from behind. There’s a lot of work to be done, the goal for me wasn’t to be just an NHL player, but to be a pretty good one and play for a long time. I’ve got a lot of years ahead.”