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Calgary4LIfe · 11-06-2025, 03:28 PM

I think a lot of people simply sort of forgot who Parekh is, especially compared to Buium.

Buium played in the NCAA for the last 2 seasons, and was a 2-way blue-chip prospect. Parekh as an offensive dynamo who didn't play much defence in junior. They were drastically different prospects.

I wasn't huge on Parekh as a prospect because defencemen like him often don't end up becoming significant pieces of the puzzle to winning, an they often aren't very interested in learning how to play defence.

Parekh isn't like that. He has embraced learning how to play good defence. I still remember the story from Warrener about how he and Regehr approached Dion to try and make him better defensively, and Phaneuf's response was: "As long as I am scoring and blowing guys up with my hits, I'm happy." Phaneuf never became what I consider a core piece after that. He was well on his way in Calgary, but then became and overhyped distraction that never helped a team win.

I look at things like Karlsson vs Chara, and I would pick Chara 10x out of 10 if I am building a Stanley Cup Championship team, right? Who wouldn't? This is why I actually preferred Silayev at the draft over Parekh, for instance.

However, what happened last season with Parekh? He embraced what Edwards was working with him on - defence. He worked hard on it, and started becoming more of a student of the game and started watching what other high-octane 2-way defencemen were doing (namely Makar and Hughes), and how they defended. Flames are developing him in that direction. He didn't get the benefit of playing a year or two in the NCAA where teams play a much more structured game where he could have had this steep learning curve lessened. Instead, he is trying to learn under trial by fire. That's hard to do, but he is going to do it. Huska and Conroy are adamant that he needs to be good defensively, while also being allowed to play HIS game.

Buium played 2 seasons of NCAA. Schaefer is a #1 pick who had zero weaknesses in his game, and who tilted the ice even on international surfaces every time he stepped out there. These aren't comps for Parekh. Neither is Silayev, who is playing in the KHL again this season.

The ideal landing spot for Parekh this year would have been the NCAA. His defensive game and physical play isn't quite ready for the NHL yet. Sending him to junior would be the wrong path forward - he would dominate substantially again, and the pressure would be on him to perform offensively, not defensively. Sure, he would get a bit better defensively because this kid isn't a short-sighted, egotistical dummy like Phaneuf was, but the pressure would be on to perform offensively to help his team win in junior. With so many of the top-end players moving to the NCAA this season, even more of a reason that another year of junior simply wouldn't benefit him.

I only see two alternatives here:
1) Send him off to Europe for the rest of the season and allow him to play against men in some men's league.
2) Keep him in the NHL, and have FULL control over his development, and slowly develop him with the best plan possible, and constantly developing him, getting him used to the organization, his teammates, etc.

What the Flames are doing is the right approach right now. Sending him back to juniors is just a waste of a year. Sending him to Europe takes the development out of their hands completely. The only option left is to keep doing what they are doing now, and I am sure it is the best available option.

People just need to realize that this isn't a race to 100 points between Parekh, Buium, Schaefer, or whomever else you want to compare him to. It is simply trying to find a way of maximizing who Parekh is as a player down the road. I bet that if the Flames do a good job, that he will become a franchise cornerstone piece that can affect the outcome of a game offensively and defensively. This just needs a lot more patience, that's all.

If his development goes right, and Parekh is 100% onboard with being developed as such, he will be a player that can do things that players like Buium and Schaefer won't be able to do. Parekh is a unicorn in that way. He just needs the right amount of growth in different parts of his own game to get there, that's all. Those guys were much more NHL ready out of the gate, and are likely going to be always be seen as more '2-way complete defencemen' than Parekh will ever be, and that's ok. Parekh will probably end up with the highest point totals while not hurting the Flames defensively like Bouchard and Karlsson typically do. I will take that! That's franchise altering almost. So let's just stay patient here and stop comparing him to defencemen who were brought along so far to be 2-way defencemen their entire lives.

11-06-2025, 03:28 PM	#533
Calgary4LIfe Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Exp:	I think a lot of people simply sort of forgot who Parekh is, especially compared to Buium. Buium played in the NCAA for the last 2 seasons, and was a 2-way blue-chip prospect. Parekh as an offensive dynamo who didn't play much defence in junior. They were drastically different prospects. I wasn't huge on Parekh as a prospect because defencemen like him often don't end up becoming significant pieces of the puzzle to winning, an they often aren't very interested in learning how to play defence. Parekh isn't like that. He has embraced learning how to play good defence. I still remember the story from Warrener about how he and Regehr approached Dion to try and make him better defensively, and Phaneuf's response was: "As long as I am scoring and blowing guys up with my hits, I'm happy." Phaneuf never became what I consider a core piece after that. He was well on his way in Calgary, but then became and overhyped distraction that never helped a team win. I look at things like Karlsson vs Chara, and I would pick Chara 10x out of 10 if I am building a Stanley Cup Championship team, right? Who wouldn't? This is why I actually preferred Silayev at the draft over Parekh, for instance. However, what happened last season with Parekh? He embraced what Edwards was working with him on - defence. He worked hard on it, and started becoming more of a student of the game and started watching what other high-octane 2-way defencemen were doing (namely Makar and Hughes), and how they defended. Flames are developing him in that direction. He didn't get the benefit of playing a year or two in the NCAA where teams play a much more structured game where he could have had this steep learning curve lessened. Instead, he is trying to learn under trial by fire. That's hard to do, but he is going to do it. Huska and Conroy are adamant that he needs to be good defensively, while also being allowed to play HIS game. Buium played 2 seasons of NCAA. Schaefer is a #1 pick who had zero weaknesses in his game, and who tilted the ice even on international surfaces every time he stepped out there. These aren't comps for Parekh. Neither is Silayev, who is playing in the KHL again this season. The ideal landing spot for Parekh this year would have been the NCAA. His defensive game and physical play isn't quite ready for the NHL yet. Sending him to junior would be the wrong path forward - he would dominate substantially again, and the pressure would be on him to perform offensively, not defensively. Sure, he would get a bit better defensively because this kid isn't a short-sighted, egotistical dummy like Phaneuf was, but the pressure would be on to perform offensively to help his team win in junior. With so many of the top-end players moving to the NCAA this season, even more of a reason that another year of junior simply wouldn't benefit him. I only see two alternatives here: 1) Send him off to Europe for the rest of the season and allow him to play against men in some men's league. 2) Keep him in the NHL, and have FULL control over his development, and slowly develop him with the best plan possible, and constantly developing him, getting him used to the organization, his teammates, etc. What the Flames are doing is the right approach right now. Sending him back to juniors is just a waste of a year. Sending him to Europe takes the development out of their hands completely. The only option left is to keep doing what they are doing now, and I am sure it is the best available option. People just need to realize that this isn't a race to 100 points between Parekh, Buium, Schaefer, or whomever else you want to compare him to. It is simply trying to find a way of maximizing who Parekh is as a player down the road. I bet that if the Flames do a good job, that he will become a franchise cornerstone piece that can affect the outcome of a game offensively and defensively. This just needs a lot more patience, that's all. If his development goes right, and Parekh is 100% onboard with being developed as such, he will be a player that can do things that players like Buium and Schaefer won't be able to do. Parekh is a unicorn in that way. He just needs the right amount of growth in different parts of his own game to get there, that's all. Those guys were much more NHL ready out of the gate, and are likely going to be always be seen as more '2-way complete defencemen' than Parekh will ever be, and that's ok. Parekh will probably end up with the highest point totals while not hurting the Flames defensively like Bouchard and Karlsson typically do. I will take that! That's franchise altering almost. So let's just stay patient here and stop comparing him to defencemen who were brought along so far to be 2-way defencemen their entire lives.