Doubt Terik Parascak at your own risk

Just a year ago, Terik Parascak was coming off a minus-one draft season that he spent primarily with The Edge School, an U18 prep team that he led in scoring.

Having only appeared in five WHL games last season with the Prince George Cougars, the Lethbridge product only had the opportunity to showcase his motor and control skills in a depth role. It flew so far under the radar that it might as well have been a B2 stealth bomber.

However, development, opportunity and time can be powerful factors in reversing destiny.

Fast forward to the present day, and things couldn’t be any different for Parascak. A finalist for WHL Rookie of the Year, the Canadian winger finished eighth in league scoring, amassing 105 points in 68 games, scoring 43 goals for the Cougars.

Suddenly, he was no longer an afterthought in 2024 NHL Draft conversations, but a staple in most rankings.

From the start of the season, Parascak started on an offensive tear that would never stop. In his first 10 games of the season, he had already scored 19 points. While many expected a decline, with Koehn Ziemmer injured early in the season, he outgrew himself, becoming a staple on the number one power play and penalty kill while flip-flopping between first and last. second trio of Prince George.

Riding shotgun with game drivers such as Riley Heidt, Zac Funk and fellow 2024 NHL Draft prospect Ondřej Becher, it’s no surprise that most evaluators treat Parascak’s production with an asterisk . All three of the aforementioned players ranked among the top 15 in scoring in the WHL – it’s an easy connection to make.

Nonetheless, while valid, this argument ignores the value of a player being able to log in and complete their games. Parascak’s game ultimately relies on his hockey sense and off-puck specialization – something NHL teams look for at every trade deadline.