RD Zayne Parekh - Saginaw Spirit, OHL (2024, 9th, CGY)

[LeProspector]

It's not just about the hype and the raw stats (point totals). It is the eye test that shows he has the high end offensive skills that not everyone can attain no matter how hard they work at it. When I first saw Cale Makar after he was drafted I knew then he could be the best offensive dman ever to play the game. His skillset was off the charts. In many ways I see that high of a potential in Parekh. He can't skate as well in terms of power and speed, but his style is more shifty like Hughes. His attack is a hybrid between Hughes/Makar and sky is the limit.

Hughes got walked regularly in his second year as a pro and Makar took 2 full years before he turned pro as he needed to gain strength and also work on his defensive game. I think Zayne can be strong enough in the fall to compete in the NHL and also should be allowed to make mistakes as he goes. Like I said, Hughes was extremely poor defensively when he first started and his shot was a muffin too. Not everyone needs to take the same path and I see little point in him playing another year in the CHL.

Of course you could be right about DeAngelo, but I would bet big money that he will be much much more than that.

I have grown an appreciation for Parekh over the past year, still think he’s a head case to some degree but on the ice he’s legit.

At the time, DeAngelo had so damn much hype behind him too - was seen as a top-10 pick if he didn’t have off ice issues that have plagued his career to date. He was Parekh before Parekh. But Zayne is a little bit more talented because of how manipulates defenders opening lanes to get the puck to the net.

 

[Yepthatsme]

I have grown an appreciation for Parekh over the past year, still think he’s a head case to some degree but on the ice he’s legit.

At the time, DeAngelo had so damn much hype behind him too - was seen as a top-10 pick if he didn’t have off ice issues that have plagued his career to date. He was Parekh before Parekh. But Zayne is a little bit more talented because of how manipulates defenders opening lanes to get the puck to the net.

I view Deangelo as Parekh’s floor. A 50 point defenseman you have to hide for him to maximize his talents. I also think Deangelo only ever hit his floor, just had this innate cockiness that made him never really work on his flaws or even improve his game much. Parekh may be a huge personality on the ice, but off ice he seems extremely dedicated to working on his game. There’s obviously graduating high school at 15, but he’s admitted in interviews he doesn’t want his defensive side to be a weakness and he’s been putting in work to correct it.
One article here that I really liked

Parekh still has plenty of flaws, but he’s made some good strides on improving defensively this year. His ceiling is definitely looking like a year over year P/g+ guy, and while his floor is probably Deangelo I haven’t seen any thing suggesting he’s trending to disappoint.

Edit: Another good one released today. Could be all talk, but this does not sound like a guy I worry about stagnating like Deangelo.