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

[dissentowner]

This isn't complicated, if he is ready he plays for the Flames next year. It doesn't matter if the team is contending or not.

[metroneck]

Originally Posted by 3rd Degree

Why I think it makes sense to delay his promotion to the NHL if the Flames aren’t contending is two fold:

1. You increase the time he is in NHL on his ELC while the Flames are contending. Allowing the Flames to get more value from the team while spending to the cap in the last year or two of his ELC. Teams are better when they have players outperforming their contracts.

2. If you’re not competing for the cup, why bring a good player in that will help you finish in the middle of the pack instead of near the bottom?

I’m not suggesting to tank as I believe trying to lose creates losers. However, if you don’t add a skilled player to the team, that team will finish lower in the standing.

Imagine if Wolf was in the AHL right now. We’d be drafting in the top 5.


My philosophy on team building is very simple. Pick a lane. Either be great or be terrible. Constantly hanging around the middle makes it very difficult to build a powerhouse.

You may be missing a critical point…

It’s not about the team, but what’s best for his development. If he develops to his potential, he IS the team in 5 years.

You don’t have to look to far west to see how his potential can carry a team.

[PepsiFree]

Hard to believe anyone is looking at the best prospect this team has seen in decades and wanting to play silly games with his ELC.

Even if he’s not fully ready for the NHL, you keep him up. There’s nothing left to accomplish in junior and the next step is playing against grown men. Can’t happen in the AHL, so it’s the NHL, maybe unfortunate but those are the breaks. He’s not going to become a finished product or anywhere close playing in the OHL. He needs to get fully immersed in the timing, speed, and physicality of the men’s game so he can continue to develop and not stall.

You also don’t keep him out to tank (or, not tank, but just be bad on purpose and call it something else). “Be great or be terrible” is not a team building philosophy. And should have zero to do with Parekh’s development.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by 3rd Degree

Why I think it makes sense to delay his promotion to the NHL if the Flames aren’t contending is two fold:

1. You increase the time he is in NHL on his ELC while the Flames are contending. Allowing the Flames to get more value from the team while spending to the cap in the last year or two of his ELC. Teams are better when they have players outperforming their contracts.

2. If you’re not competing for the cup, why bring a good player in that will help you finish in the middle of the pack instead of near the bottom?

I’m not suggesting to tank as I believe trying to lose creates losers. However, if you don’t add a skilled player to the team, that team will finish lower in the standing.

Imagine if Wolf was in the AHL right now. We’d be drafting in the top 5.


My philosophy on team building is very simple. Pick a lane. Either be great or be terrible. Constantly hanging around the middle makes it very difficult to build a powerhouse.

You do not need to max out his ELC. Parekh is coming in at the front end of the new prospect pool. Get him onto the team and developing into a potential future captain (or at least leader) and central piece to the new team core to take the reigns from the current team core.

To put it another way, think of the strategy you should be following and the steps you need to take. In my opinion, Conroy’s strategy looks like this:
Step 1: Build your new core of skilled players through drafting and trading (Wolf, Coronato, Zary, Bahl, Parekh, Brzustewicz, etc)
Step 2: Supplement your core with young, cheap skilled players on entry level contracts (prospect drafted in 2026-8)
Step 3: Sign / trade for skilled vets to help win immediately
Step 4: LTIR a player or two for the season so they show up in the playoffs and add even more skilled players.

We are in Step 1, which will likely take a couple of years of retooling, and you are skipping ahead and trying to implement Step 2 on the wrong player.

Also, at the same time as you do not want to tank to create a losing culture, you also need a culture where players can trust that they are treated fairly, and you are not abusing them by holding them back in their careers. No one will show you loyalty if you treat them like video game NPCs and directly impact their careers (and pocketbooks) because you are trying to maximize your control over them or worse yet, hold them back because they are too good to be on your “terrible lane” NHL team.

[Bonded]

They can sit Wolf and keep any good prospect in the minors for the sake of being bad.

[3rd Degree]

Do people honestly believe he won’t develop any more in the OHL? Playing top line minutes in the OHL will still allow him to hone his craft.

Through his own admission, he wasn’t ready physically during training camp. Would an extra year in the gym help with this? How couldn’t it.

What I’m suggesting isn’t a punishment or gaming the system. It’s allowing him to be the best version of himself when he 1st steps onto the NHL ice.

The ADDED bonus is that his ELC is maximized. The team isn’t going for it next year so he’s not needed on the roster.

Do you actually believe he’s so fragile as to be destroyed by not making the team and having to play a single extra season in the OHL? Look at how he responded to the WJ snub. He began dominating like the absolute stud that he is.

Keeping him hungry and motivated can’t hurt.

[dino7c]

If he makes the Flames as one of their best dmen he should be on the Flames...goes for anyone else

[Paulie Walnuts]

Sending him back after the year he is having accomplishes nothing.

He needs to play the NHL. What’s it’s like to play against men, the training the schedule etc.

He is a high IQ guy and sending him back after he dominated will probably bore him he has nothing left to dominate.

He already talked about getting his body right after last camp and talking with Honzek how to come better prepared.

[3rd Degree]

I agree wholeheartedly that playing against men in the AHL would be the best thing for him but that’s not on the table.

The question I ask myself is would he more physically developed next season or the season after?

You hear about players being rushed and losing confidence due to the level of competition. It’s not that I think this is likely but it’s possible.

How is letting him mature for another year before being thrown into lions den hurt him. I don’t see the downside.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Do you think he’s a player who is going to lose his confidence? He had a so so camp and went back and still played well. He was left off team Canada and is about to break records now.

Graduated high school at 15. He will get sheltered 5 on 5 and play the PP.

He seems like a driven person and confidence doesn’t seem to be an issue.

[Eric Vail]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Do you think he’s a player who is going to lose his confidence? He had a so so camp and went back and still played well. He was left off team Canada and is about to break records now.

Graduated high school at 15. He will get sheltered 5 on 5 and play the PP.

He seems like a driven person and confidence doesn’t seem to be an issue.

I thought he had a poor camp and then had a slow start to his OHL season. After the new year, he caught fire.

[3rd Degree]

It sounds to me that he was “crushed”, his word,about not making team Canada. Then he likely got mad, then focused, then even. There is zero downside to making sure he’s as physically ready to crush the NHL. Rushing him may have downside, one single extra year in the OHL while he’s not even eligible to play in the AHL will not magically stunt his growth. Being a year older and a year stronger can increase his odds of success at the NHL level. How could it not?

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by 3rd Degree

Why I think it makes sense to delay his promotion to the NHL if the Flames aren’t contending is two fold:

1. You increase the time he is in NHL on his ELC while the Flames are contending. Allowing the Flames to get more value from the team while spending to the cap in the last year or two of his ELC. Teams are better when they have players outperforming their contracts.

2. If you’re not competing for the cup, why bring a good player in that will help you finish in the middle of the pack instead of near the bottom?

I’m not suggesting to tank as I believe trying to lose creates losers. However, if you don’t add a skilled player to the team, that team will finish lower in the standing.

Imagine if Wolf was in the AHL right now. We’d be drafting in the top 5.


My philosophy on team building is very simple. Pick a lane. Either be great or be terrible. Constantly hanging around the middle makes it very difficult to build a powerhouse.

If you're purposely not adding skilled players to finish lower in the standings.... isn't that tanking?

Using an algorithm to keep a player in the OHL just tells that player the team doesn't care about them. Maybe big destinations like New York or Toronto can get away with that but Calgary doesn't have that luxury.

[Groot]

Originally Posted by 3rd Degree

It sounds to me that he was “crushed”, his word,about not making team Canada. Then he likely got mad, then focused, then even. There is zero downside to making sure he’s as physically ready to crush the NHL. Rushing him may have downside, one single extra year in the OHL while he’s not even eligible to play in the AHL will not magically stunt his growth. Being a year older and a year stronger can increase his odds of success at the NHL level. How could it not?

He's the same size as Makar, and bigger than Hughes or Fox. 3 of the current top 5 NHL defenseman by points. And he'll have one more full offseason to train and add any bit more mass then he currently has. If there's anything that will hold him back in the NHL, it's not his size or because he's not physically ready.

[dino7c]

Guy will be in the NHL next year the team Canada will be begging for us to let him go in December IMO

[Eric Vail]

I think it would be foolish to decide in March where he plays. He needs a better showing in camp next year to stick in the NHL. Perhaps they give him 10 games. If he is overwhelmed, he goes back to the OHL. If he is holding his own, he stays.

Height and weight is one important measurable. They also need to look at his strength and fitness to see if he is ready. If the teenager needs more time mature, give it to him.

[PepsiFree]

Simplifying it down to just needing more or less time ignores the advantages pro-hockey has for physical and mental development. Better, more focused training, access to better trainers and facilities, and better coaching (both from coaches and veterans).

Plateaus are real. If a player is already beyond the level he’s playing at, development is going to slow down significantly.

[3rd Degree]

1. Is there a benefit to the team in bringing him in next year?No, they’re not contenders.

2. Is there a benefit to the team in having him spend another year in the OHL? Yes, maximizes his ELC

3. Is there a benefit to the player’s development by bringing him in next year? Maybe

4. Could there be a downside in rushing him to the NHL before he’s ready? Possibly

5. Would he be stronger by training for another whole year before entering the NHL? Yes

The most logical path for both his development and maximizing value for the team is for him to play 9 games with the Flames next year, get a taste for the speed and physicality, and then go back to Saginaw knowing exactly what he needs to focus on.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by 3rd Degree

1. Is there a benefit to the team in bringing him in next year?No, they’re not contenders.

2. Is there a benefit to the team in having him spend another year in the OHL? Yes, maximizes his ELC

3. Is there a benefit to the player’s development by bringing him in next year? Maybe

4. Could there be a downside in rushing him to the NHL before he’s ready? Possibly

5. Would he be stronger by training for another whole year before entering the NHL? Yes

The most logical path for both his development and maximizing value for the team is for him to play 9 games with the Flames next year, get a taste for the speed and physicality, and then go back to Saginaw knowing exactly what he needs to focus on.

This is the type of attitude that drives top end players to ask to be traded.

Try your best to get it thru your skull, the nhl is a business for both sides, if he's ready he stays period, everything else is a bunch of BS

[3rd Degree]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

This is the type of attitude that drives top end players to ask to be traded.

Try your best to get it thru your skull, the nhl is a business for both sides, if he's ready he stays period, everything else is a bunch of BS

Exactly, it’s a business. A resource management business. Not a trying not to hurt feelings business. The Flames are the ones in control of managing their asset. This constant rhetoric that if he doesn’t stick with the team he’ll somehow immediately demand to be traded is ridiculous. He’s an intelligent kid as demonstrated by graduating high school at 15. Intelligent people understand the big picture. They typically don’t wine, cry, name call etc. They tackle adversity head on and find a way to turn their dreams into reality.