Parekh named OHL defenseman of the month.....again.

[Enoch Root]

Four Flames currently in the top 16 in the OHL scoring race:

8) Battaglia
13) Parekh
16) Mews
17) Misa

Parekh and Mews are 1-2 for defensemen

Parekh has 11G 10A 21P in his last 7 games

Battaglia has 8G, 14A, 22P in his last 9 games

Like Parekh, Battaglia is also eligible for the WJ next year. Mews too.

[shutout]

Why was Honzek allowed to play in the AHL in his D+2 season but Parekh has to wait for his D+3 season?

[looooob]

Originally Posted by shutout

Why was Honzek allowed to play in the AHL in his D+2 season but Parekh has to wait for his D+3 season?

birth date/year basically . Honzek is a late 2004, and Parekh is a 2006- so despite drafted in back to back years, they have birth years 2 apart

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by shutout

Why was Honzek allowed to play in the AHL in his D+2 season but Parekh has to wait for his D+3 season?

Honzek turned 20 before Dec 31 in his first AHL season

Parekh will be 19 on Dec 31st this year; he does not turn 20 until Feb 2026

[Bubba17]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

That also means he is eligible for the WJC next season too. Something tells me Hockey Canada has their tail between their legs and Parakh will be one of the first invites and locks next season.

If I was him I would skip the WJC even if they invite him.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by butterfly

Okay, thanks. The NHL needs to amend it, then.

In my opinion the CHL is going to die out with the NCAA agreement and the dwindling number of Canadians playing minor hockey. Most of them will never play in the NHL, so might as well get a free education.

Just to put some numbers to this, 2010-ish was the peak at around 550k minor hockey registrations in Canada. 2023 was 435k. Lots of numbers get thrown around and it's mostly estimates (not sure why it's so hard to pin down actual numbers).

I'm not sure if I'd use the term 'dwindling', but down somewhat.

[Knut]

Originally Posted by heep223

Just to put some numbers to this, 2010-ish was the peak at around 550k minor hockey registrations in Canada. 2023 was 435k. Lots of numbers get thrown around and it's mostly estimates (not sure why it's so hard to pin down actual numbers).

I'm not sure if I'd use the term 'dwindling', but down somewhat.

That likely does not capture all the private league registrations. Most likely just the ones through Hockey Canada.

[heep223]

Also a good point. Tons of private leagues now

I have kids elementary school age and very much anecdotally, it seems like hockey is more popular than ever

[Sandman]

Unpopular opinion, but as I said in the CHL Prospects thread, I think Parekh will need a longer runway than most of us think. He wasn't drafted to be a shutdown defenseman, but you have to be somewhat responsible in order to get minutes in the NHL- and he has a ways to go yet.

Plus, he was one of the few youngsters in camp who looked absolutely overwhelmed against older players.

[Groot]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Unpopular opinion, but as I said in the CHL Prospects thread, I think Parekh will need a longer runway than most of us think. He wasn't drafted to be a shutdown defenseman, but you have to be somewhat responsible in order to get minutes in the NHL- and he has a ways to go yet.

Plus, he was one of the few youngsters in camp who looked absolutely overwhelmed against older players.

Evan Bouchard reading this as he prepares to negotiate $10M+ AAV

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Unpopular opinion, but as I said in the CHL Prospects thread, I think Parekh will need a longer runway than most of us think. He wasn't drafted to be a shutdown defenseman, but you have to be somewhat responsible in order to get minutes in the NHL- and he has a ways to go yet.

Plus, he was one of the few youngsters in camp who looked absolutely overwhelmed against older players.

Keeping Andersson would allow them to shelter Parekh as the #3 RHD/PP1 until he’s in his mid 20s.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Unpopular opinion, but as I said in the CHL Prospects thread, I think Parekh will need a longer runway than most of us think. He wasn't drafted to be a shutdown defenseman, but you have to be somewhat responsible in order to get minutes in the NHL- and he has a ways to go yet.

Plus, he was one of the few youngsters in camp who looked absolutely overwhelmed against older players.

I believe he recently stated he was trying to hard to play the way he was told he should play, after the stupid snub from hockey canada he said it was a mistake to try and change the type of player he is, probably no coincidence he's been the highest scoring Dman in the CHL the last 6 weeks.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by heep223

Just to put some numbers to this, 2010-ish was the peak at around 550k minor hockey registrations in Canada. 2023 was 435k. Lots of numbers get thrown around and it's mostly estimates (not sure why it's so hard to pin down actual numbers).

I'm not sure if I'd use the term 'dwindling', but down somewhat.

Well...that's -21% in 15 years while the population is +22% in that time. I don't know anything about private leagues though. Are there 236k kids playing in them? Probably impossible to know.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by butterfly

Well...that's -21% in 15 years while the population is +22% in that time. I don't know anything about private leagues though. Are there 236k kids playing in them? Probably impossible to know.

True but population growth has been like 98% immigration for some time now. Most immigrants from non hockey cultures

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Groot

Evan Bouchard reading this as he prepares to negotiate $10M+ AAV

Yeah, but that's the Oilers- they covet those types.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

I believe he recently stated he was trying to hard to play the way he was told he should play, after the stupid snub from hockey canada he said it was a mistake to try and change the type of player he is, probably no coincidence he's been the highest scoring Dman in the CHL the last 6 weeks.

There was a rumor that he told teams in his pre-draft interview not to draft him if they expected him to change his style. Maybe it was true.

There was also somebody who posted some things a rival GM said about our draft picks last summer, and he hinted that a few of the kids we picked had attitude problems. Wonder if that was him?

[BigThief]

Originally Posted by shutout

Why was Honzek allowed to play in the AHL in his D+2 season but Parekh has to wait for his D+3 season?

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Honzek turned 20 before Dec 31 in his first AHL season

Parekh will be 19 on Dec 31st this year; he does not turn 20 until Feb 2026

Examples of upcoming players, Parekh, Basha and Battaglia were all drafted out of the CHL by the Flames last year but Basha is eligible for the AHL due to his late birthyear.

Going to be interesting to see how well Basha does when he returns from his (ankle?) injury. He'll turn twenty in November so you kind of want him in the AHL.. but I think he has a lot of work to get to that level.

[BigThief]

Originally Posted by HighLifeMan

Yakemchuk currently can't even defend at a high level at the the WHL level. It's no coincidence that he's the only minus defensemen on a team with a +48 goal differential. He certainly doesn't project to be a top tier defensive player in the NHL barring a massive shift in his approach to the game. He's pretty much been a PP specialist this year with 58% of his total points coming with the man advantage.

And speaking of late birthdays...Yakemchuk will turn 20 in September. His defensive game is utterly terrible in what will be his last WHL season. I think he's going to get roasted in the AHL next year unless they return him for a pseudo overage year. (I don't know if it will technically a overage)

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Sandman

There was a rumor that he told teams in his pre-draft interview not to draft him if they expected him to change his style. Maybe it was true.

There was also somebody who posted some things a rival GM said about our draft picks last summer, and he hinted that a few of the kids we picked had attitude problems. Wonder if that was him?

Context of the interview matters.

If questions were hinting towards the 'why didn't you pick this (more talented) guy?', the answers will get a bit defensive. And the easiest way to throw shade on a prospect is to say 'we didn't like his attitude'. Instant get out of jail free card.

Then there is also the fact that these are 18 year old, very nervous, kids. Some are going to interview better than others.

There are going to be the occasional red flags, where it is obvious there is a problem. But for most of the comments interviews, I put little to no stock in them.

What have we seen from Parekh in the last 8 months that would suggest attitude problems? Absolutely nothing, as far as I have seen.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Sandman

There was a rumor that he told teams in his pre-draft interview not to draft him if they expected him to change his style. Maybe it was true.

There was also somebody who posted some things a rival GM said about our draft picks last summer, and he hinted that a few of the kids we picked had attitude problems. Wonder if that was him?

Probably Briere after he drafted Jett Luchanko 13th and Parekh said WOW!

Luchanko was rated by most as late 1st/early 2nd