The 19-year-old, drafted ninth overall in 2024, was paired with veteran Jake Bean on the first day of training camp \u2014 an early indicator that the franchise will ease him into his new surroundings and not rush his development. Zayne Parekh missed rookie camp because of an injury, but skated the full session with the main group on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaking a step in the right direction each day,\u201d he said, adding that he\u2019s about 90 per cent health-wise and expects to play when the Flames host the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday in preseason action.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast camp, I was coming in and soaking everything in. This time around, I\u2019m trying to push for a job.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019s already seen Calgarians with his No.89 jersey, despite the fact that he only made his NHL debut and scored in the final game of last season. His approach is rooted in both embracing the massive spotlight he\u2019s under while remembering to still be a kid. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked for this. This is why I do it\u2026I\u2019m 19. Whatever happens, happens. There\u2019s more to life than hockey. Just try to enjoy it and have fun with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parekh and veteran blueliner MacKenzie Weegar had a long chat at the team\u2019s wrap-up party in April, a conversation Parekh valued. Weegar feels Parekh has the mental makeup to thrive in a passionate hockey market. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think he loves it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he loves the eyes on him. He\u2019s got that swag to him. That pressure on him, I think he wants that\u2026he\u2019s a top prospect for a reason. If I can make him feel comfortable, I\u2019ll help him with whatever he needs\u2026you can tell out there that he wants to be in the spotlight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much has changed for Parekh in the past 15 months since he became the highest-drafted Flames defenceman since Dion Phaneuf back in 2003. <\/p>\n
He joined Bobby Orr as the second OHL defenceman ever to have multiple seasons of 30 or more goals. Parekh assumed a leadership role on a Saginaw Spirit group that lost in the first round of the playoffs after winning the Memorial Cup the season prior. He took pride in the leadership role he assumed with the club. <\/p>\n
\u201cI became a pretty good leader,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to pull guys into the fight\u2026a lot of guys in my position would probably just have hung it up and wouldn\u2019t have tried so they could have gone to the AHL or NHL, but I really stuck it out and was pretty determined to keep playing as long as I could there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the summer, he admitted to recent humbling experiences that pushed him to evolve. <\/p>\n
\u201cSome things happen, it\u2019s better to learn young than kind of grow up and have to change those things when I\u2019m 35,\u201d he said in July.<\/p>\n
Parekh has also integrated himself amongst other Flames prospects. Despite not participating in rookie camp, he was a fixture at Saddledome skates and was seen interacting with fellow rookies. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want them to think [I\u2019m] better than them or I\u2019m favoured in any way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Despite the high hopes for him, his teammates and coach want Parekh to remain 19 years old. They don\u2019t want him to burden himself with high expectations. The organization will be fine with the inevitable growing pains as they try to manage his development during a season where playoffs remain the expectation. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think Zayne should feel any undue pressure on having to be the saviour coming in,\u201d head coach Ryan Huska said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not it at all\u2026we\u2019re so excited about this guy\u2019s future. It\u2019s our job as a coaching staff to help him along the way. If a young man thinks he\u2019s gotta satisfy this, this, and this, no he doesn\u2019t. He\u2019s just got to come and play his game.\u201d<\/p>\n
His career will take off soon enough. <\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you know it, you\u2019ll be an old guy like me, so I hope he just has a great time and enjoys his [second] training camp,\u201d Weegar said. <\/p>\n
As much as Parekh enjoyed his time in Saginaw, he\u2019s trying to move forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really don\u2019t want to go back to junior this year,\u201d Parekh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the expectations that are put on me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 19-year-old, drafted ninth overall in 2024, was paired with veteran Jake Bean on the first day of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[32473,5,4,33776],"class_list":{"0":"post-199047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-calgary-flames-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-20","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-zayne-parekh-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8484768"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115227894953722824","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}