🚨 The Zayne Parekh show has arrived 🚨

[PaperBagger'14]

The difference in terms of skill and production between Parekh and Schaefer is pretty wild. It’s early of course but wow does Schaefer look really good right now..

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

The difference in terms of skill and production between Parekh and Schaefer is pretty wild. It’s early of course but wow does Schaefer look really good right now..

Schaefer is even better than advertised. But we shouldn’t be surprised that a consensus #1 OA pick is playing much better than a #9 pick. Just more evidence that picking at the top of the draft matters, and there’s typically a big drop-off by pick #8 or 10.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

The difference in terms of skill and production between Parekh and Schaefer is pretty wild. It’s early of course but wow does Schaefer look really good right now..

There's usually a huge gap between a 1OA and a 9OA.

[Ba'alzamon]

Schaefer, following a season where he played just 16 games, went first overall in a draft that had a fast, 6'1" 2-way C who put up over two points per game.

And people are surprised that he looks really really good?

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Maybe Zaybs needs to watch some Buium and Schaefer footage and see what they're doing as his draft peers that he can try to incorporate.

Still think the Flames take some blame for being so untrusting from the outset. The way hes been utilized i think it would be hard for any kid to find traction.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

There's usually a huge gap between a 1OA and a 9OA.

Don’t forget Parekh has an extra year of development on Schaefer as well.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Don’t forget Parekh has an extra year of development on Schaefer as well.

Sure, but Parekh is still the 6th youngest player in the NHL, and 4th youngest D.

I think people had sky high expectations of Parekh and are amazed he isn't leading the rookies in scoring or something. And they are looking to blame someone for that. When actually he's doing what most 19 year old rookies do.

[FlamesAddiction]

The sky high expectations of some were grossly misplaced so it's not a surprise that some people are looking at any other possible reason for him not meeting them other than the fact that he isn't an NHL caliber player right now by most measures. It's like all those scouting reports over the past couple of years identifying pretty glaring flaws that need to be corrected before he can be an NHL regular, don't exist.

I think the Flames are doing the right thing by easing him in slowly given that junior is the only other option, and that the additional year in junior last year didn't seem to help. I don't think there is a team in the NHL that would just let him go without reins though. He needs to show that he is working on the things he needs to in order to garner more trust.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Sure, but Parekh is still the 6th youngest player in the NHL, and 4th youngest D.

I think people had sky high expectations of Parekh and are amazed he isn't leading the rookies in scoring or something. And they are looking to blame someone for that. When actually he's doing what most 19 year old rookies do.

The comparables for Parekh (Hutson last year, Schaefer and Buium this year) did set expectations pretty high. However I think even the lowest of expectations had him with more than 1 assist in 10 games. Time will tell, it’s still early. Maybe he projects to be an Andersson quality defenceman down the road, which is still nice.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Not reading into the first 10 games for a 19 year old being micro managed by a defensive structure-oriented coach.

I think adding strength and mass may make a bigger difference for him than even x and os. When you're out-muscled 9/10 times by mature athletes its hard to even begin to play your game.

[GioforPM]

Miro Heiskenan hardly got any points off the bat either. Same with Dahlin, and those guys were drafted way higher than 9th. Erik Karlsson only had 6 points by January in his first season.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

I’m super happy with how Parekh has performed this season, AND with how he’s been managed by the coaching staff.

He’s been doing well, getting PP time, getting sheltered minutes and games off.

He’s gonna be a heck of a player. Let’s get him a #1 C and start collecting rings.

[Calgary4LIfe]

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.

[GioforPM]

You could make an argument that the Ottawa Senators should have coached Karlsson to be a bit more well rounded at the beginning. Sure he got 78 points in his second season, but he got 1 in that year's POs and has never really been seen as a guy who helped his team to success when it counted (acept maybe 16-17). This board alwasy viewed him as not a real defenceman.

[metroneck]

In grade 11, my son was a 6/7 D-Man in JrB. It was nothing but head games from the coaches, and him not knowing until after warmups if he was in the line-up. Good game or bad game, he never knew where he stood. While he learned a lot about advocating for himself, the experience soured him on hockey.

Certain posters react like Zayne is being treated the same way by the Flames. He knows the plan for him. He knows when he’s out and when he’s in.

The kid needs patience, not pressure.