Meet Zayne Parekh, the Flames’ top pick in the 2024 NHL Draft

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During Sportsnet’s draft coverage, Zayne Parekh solved a Rubik’s Cube in about 90 seconds.

The Calgary Flames are confident that Parekh, their ninth overall pick in the first round Friday at the Sphere in Las Vegas, will be a big part of their headache for years to come.

Parekh is a dynamic defenseman, a prolific point producer, a Memorial Cup champion and a very smart cookie. In fact, he graduated high school at 16.

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“I started school a year early, started with 2005, then skipped 7th grade,” Parekh said in a phone interview with Postmedia. “During high school, I sometimes wondered why I was in this accelerated program, but my father had a plan in place to prepare me for life. It wasn’t really about hockey, but he was just trying to prepare me for life, just to be one step ahead of everyone else. »

This proved to give him a leg up on many other draft prospects in the 2024 class.

Because even though they had to balance hockey and homework, Parekh was fully focused on pursuing his NHL dream.

“I could ice cream in the morning and go to the gym in the morning, so it’s perfect for me,” he said. “Honestly, that’s probably the biggest thing for me, not having to wake up at 6:30 or 7 a.m. and go to school with all the guys my age and younger. It just made it easier.”

On the ice, Parekh often makes things look easy.

The promising right-hander from Nobleton, Ont., was named the Ontario Hockey League’s most outstanding rearguard after tallying 33 goals and 63 assists in 66 regular-season games with the Saginaw Spirit. He also scored a point-per-game at the Memorial Cup, helping the hosts win a tournament title. He posted a team-best plus-6 rating at the Canadian Hockey League championship tournament.

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Parekh, who turned 18 in February, has been compared to three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson. He idolizes Calgary’s Cale Makar. He describes himself as “someone who’s pretty creative and has a good hockey IQ,” adding, “When you put those two together, it’s pretty deadly.”

That’s indeed the case, which explains why some scouts believe Parekh has serious star potential, although he’ll be challenged to strengthen his defensive details and add a little more muscle to his 6-footer and 178 pounds. frame.

“Box office, that’s what I’m going to call it,” Sportsnet draft analyst Sam Cosentino said on the show. “Because I would pay a ticket to see this guy play. He’s that exciting.”

“He plays the game like he’s in a rocking chair. Everything is so simple, so cool. There’s so much balance in his game.

In the rocking chairs of southern Alberta, there was a wave of disappointment when the Utah Hockey Club called Tij Iginla’s name at No. 6 overall, spoiling the notion that the son de Jarome could wear a Flames jersey.

It didn’t take long — maybe 15 or 20 minutes — for the excitement to turn into excitement about Parekh, the only defenseman to outplay Hunter Brzustewicz in OHL action in 2023-24. They’re now future teammates, both candidates for the playmaking job in Cowtown.

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Although the Flames have an impressive number of promising players on defense, it didn’t make sense to target a ninth-ranked forward. In Elite Prospects’ consolidated rankings, Parekh was ranked as the seventh best player available in this category. He had a good feeling when Craig Conroy and company made their way to the podium, saying he had an encouraging interview with the Calgary contingent at the combine and received positive feedback from his agent afterward.

“I can’t get rid of the smile,” Parekh said Friday night.

He had company in that regard.

“When you look at (Parekh), he just has a high hockey sense, he makes plays,” a smiling Conroy told Sportsnet after completing his first-round work, which also included selecting USHL leading scorer Matvei Gridin at No. 28. “You know, sometimes it’s a risk-reward thing, but it seems like it’s more in his favour than against him. Just to get that kind of skill set and talent, it was exciting to take him at No. 9.”

“He competes hard, too,” Conroy added later during a media scrum. “He’s got a real style when he’s on the ice, and you like that. And then winning a Memorial Cup, it never hurts to have guys who have won.”

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That championship celebration with the Spirit was the highlight of Parekh’s hockey career…for about four weeks.

“I still live at that level,” Parekh told reporters in Las Vegas. “But I think this one might be superior.” These are 1 and 2, or 1A and 1B.

“I like to win. I love that feeling of winning and spending those 10 days with that group of guys, I wouldn’t trade it for anything honestly. If I could relive it, I would watch it 1,000 times.

ICE CREAM FRIES: The 2024 NHL Draft continues Saturday, with rounds 2 through 7. The Flames each have two picks in the second, third and fourth rounds and another shot in the sixth… Parekh will see a familiar face at his first development camp in Calgary. The organization had already invited his older brother, Isa, who played last season with the Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL and is committed to Bemidji State University. Isa, 20, is also a defender… Conroy, asked by Las Vegas journalists about his reaction to seeing Tij Iginla selected by Utah in sixth position: “I’m happy for Tij and Jarome. You would have loved to see him in the role for the Calgary Flames, but I get it. We knew that was far from the case. He played so well this year. I thought he might go before #9.

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