Pleasantly surprised about this pick. Didn’t know anything about Zayne Parekh, so thought I’d watch one of his games and wow, he sure has potential to be an impact player.
Pros:
- Sublime skater, not the fastest skater, but very fluid, very elusive and his lateral mobility and footwork is off the charts
- Has impressive poise and composure with the puck, reminds me a bit of Quinn Hughes in that respect
- Has the high-end offensive instincts, puck skills and playmaking abilities of a forward
- Can quarterback a PP and can walk the line, ala Cale Makar
- He’s going to give penalty killers absolute fits because his elusiveness, deception and ability to create different passing/shooting lanes
Cons:
- Battle level, intensity and engagement in the defensive zone could stand to be higher, definitely more of an offensive minded defenseman
- Physicality is not his game, seems to shy away from it, will need to bulk up to withstand pounding he’ll take from NHL forwards
Can’t say too much yet about his gap control, pinches, retrievals and one on one defense, will definitely need more viewings of him. Think the flames picked him for his high end skating and puck skills. I suspect they’ll look to pair him up with a hard nosed stay at home defenseman and let him play rover from time to time.
Overall, I like the pick up. Think it’s important for the Flames to find a dynamic player like this who has game breaking talent because the current team gave up a lot of goals this past season trying to press for offense because it didn’t come natural to them.
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