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

[Crosbysburner8787]

Ever since the World Juniors snub he has exploded offensively. Even the great (not) Dickenson is no where close to Zayne's production when everyone was gushing about how awesome a year Dickenson is having (on a loaded London team). Zayne's PPG is up to 1.70 on the year after being around 1.05 for the first 11 games of the year.

I'm glad Zayne plays with a chip on his shoulder to prove all the dumb haters wrong.

Also, Parekh's name is of Indian descent (his Father is Indian, Mother is Korean descent so it's a double whammy for the racists out there).

To be fair his production sky rocketed even more when chernyshov showed up (31 points in those 14 games). Between having Igor and misa it certainly doesn't hurt whereas Dickinson has no one even close to the talent of those 2.

Zaynes been great but that stuff does matter.

 

[covfefe]

That’s the argument he would have been 10 x better heading to play college against big and heavy teams verse dominating in the ohl. Their is no doubt nhl teams see this and you will see most kids like him head to ncaa for 1-2 years. in future .. He couldn’t play like that at ncaa , Ahl , or the nhl so wasting another year playing pickup hockey in ohl doesn’t really help him . Remember he couldn’t make junior team and Canada junior kids have done zero against heavy structure usa college kids . Look at Dickinson who is ripping up the OHL he had zero room or space at World juniors and looked flat out bad .

 

[Kingpin794]

To be fair his production sky rocketed even more when chernyshov showed up (31 points in those 14 games). Between having Igor and misa it certainly doesn't hurt whereas Dickinson has no one even close to the talent of those 2.

Zaynes been great but that stuff does matter.

There are like 5 first rounders and 13 NHL picks on London. I think he has plenty to work with. Dickinson is a different player. No one is expecting him to match Parekh’s offensive numbers.

 

[kanersen]

Why do white people always have a need to take negative connotations against people of visible minority, into a need to identify that as some sort of racial conflict or perceived racism. For the record, I am a big Parekh fan and I'm of Indian descent. I can still understand people not liking Parekh's toolkit and holding that against them without an iota of consideration to his race. Lane Hutson had the same doubters. Can we just stick to hockey please. There's enough crap going on in the world that I don't need to have it shoved in my face here too.

 

[wetcoast]

It's 4 on 4 hockey so it doesn't count will be the excuse given.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

How stupid does someone have to be to not know Parekh is a middle eastern name?

If nobody cared, there wouldn't be the need for programs promoting inclusion. Denying there is racism in hockey culture is like denying the the world is a sphere

I think you’d find that your demand for racism here outstrips the supply of racism here.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Not sure why anyone is even arguing about this whole 9OA thing? Who cares? I am only concerned with how good he can possibly become. To me he has incredibly high upside and could be a game changer. All the worry about the defensive play I am pretty sure is overblown. It's pretty obvious he has the kind of high end skills that should translate to the NHL. Is there any worry that he can't get physically stronger?

Lane Hutson should be the floor. Lane is only 5'9" 162 lbs. Zayne appears to have better skills from what I can see and is 6' 185 lbs and is 2 years younger. Lane was picked 62nd overall in 2022. Who cares where anyone is picked? What matters is how they are looking now and how much better they can become.

Wait...what?

I'm hoping you just mean in terms of size and not in terms of on-ice impact because Hutson is a legit offensive star in the NHL already and he's still young.

 

[Golden_Jet]

How stupid does someone have to be to not know Parekh is a middle eastern name?

Probably because his parents aren’t middle eastern, not that it matters, more should it.

 

[Kingpin794]

Parekh named OHL defenseman of the month for the 2nd consecutive month

 

[jtechkid]

I have a really tough time evaluating Parekh's NHL potential. Like everyone else, I am very very impressed by his offensive game. I just have a tough time visualizing how his game will translate to the NHL, I get the Ryan Merkley vibes from him. I know that's probably unfair but he's really going to need to learn how to defend in the pros and his game has a long way to go before he'll be able to do that.

I was going say something but this guy sums it up perfect !

 

[Juxtaposer]

Some of you people seem to have never seen Ryan Merkley play a game in your lives. Absolutely stupid comparison.

 

[Lunatik]

Probably because his parents aren’t middle eastern, not that it matters, more should it.

Yes, I know now. I suck at geography and India is not apart of the middle east, like I previous thought.

 

[JPeeper]

To be fair his production sky rocketed even more when chernyshov showed up (31 points in those 14 games). Between having Igor and misa it certainly doesn't hurt whereas Dickinson has no one even close to the talent of those 2.

Zaynes been great but that stuff does matter.

Buddy...his team is loaded and in first place in the OHL. Parekh also did this last year before Misa broke out and before Chernyshov was even on the team.

If you want to be fair.

 

[crazyfisherman]

To be fair his production sky rocketed even more when chernyshov showed up (31 points in those 14 games). Between having Igor and misa it certainly doesn't hurt whereas Dickinson has no one even close to the talent of those 2.

Zaynes been great but that stuff does matter.

To be fair he put up 21 pts in 10 games in jan before chernyshov arrived, dudes been on fire for a while now. Dave Cameron prob deserves the most credit at this point.

 

[Siignal]

Parekh named OHL defenseman of the month for the 2nd consecutive month

The release on the last goal in those clips is bananas. Puck is next to his skate and he sends it top right in an instant

 

[Haatley]

To be fair his production sky rocketed even more when chernyshov showed up (31 points in those 14 games). Between having Igor and misa it certainly doesn't hurt whereas Dickinson has no one even close to the talent of those 2.

Zaynes been great but that stuff does matter.

If you spent some time to go watch Saginaw live, you would see that Parekh is clearly the best player on the team.

 

[Crosbysburner8787]

If you spent some time to go watch Saginaw live, you would see that Parekh is clearly the best player on the team.

I live in Saginaw lol. Seen him plenty, I've been watching since Tom Pyatt. No where did I say he wasn't any good or say anything negative. The poster I responded to said Dickinson can't produce like Parehk. When the reality is this year he has without those two stars. Not even remotely a slight at zayne or what he's capable of.

And to the guy who said London is loaded, you show me two guys on London that match the production of Misa and Chernyshov. London is always great but acting like they have that fire power is laughable, this isn't the 2000s anymore. The closest is Cowan and all he's done this year is try to play hero puck.

 

[Kingpin794]

I live in Saginaw lol. Seen him plenty, I've been watching since Tom Pyatt. No where did I say he wasn't any good or say anything negative. The poster I responded to said Dickinson can't produce like Parehk. When the reality is this year he has without those two stars. Not even remotely a slight at zayne or what he's capable of.

And to the guy who said London is loaded, you show me two guys on London that match the production of Misa and Chernyshov. London is always great but acting like they have that fire power is laughable, this isn't the 2000s anymore. The closest is Cowan and all he's done this year is try to play hero puck.

And I’ve been watching them just as long. (Do you not see the profile pic? lol).

Between the 3 threads (well four now) it’s kind of funny. Misa’s and Igor’s production doesn’t count because they’re playing against kids. Zayne production doesn’t count because he has Misa and Igor. And Dickinson doesn’t have Misa or Igor to play with so his production is underrated.

 

[Finster8]

That’s the argument he would have been 10 x better heading to play college against big and heavy teams verse dominating in the ohl. Their is no doubt nhl teams see this and you will see most kids like him head to ncaa for 1-2 years. in future .. He couldn’t play like that at ncaa , Ahl , or the nhl so wasting another year playing pickup hockey in ohl doesn’t really help him . Remember he couldn’t make junior team and Canada junior kids have done zero against heavy structure usa college kids . Look at Dickinson who is ripping up the OHL he had zero room or space at World juniors and looked flat out bad .

I don’t know where to begin, the 10X better playing in the NCAA is flat out laughable. Oh, he couldn’t make the Junior team and Canada Junior kids have done zero against heavy structured USA college kids lmao. Remember a few Americans playing in the CHL as well.
When Calgary drafted Zayne he signed an ELC which puts the NCAA out of the picture until his D+3. Also it is up to Calgary to decide where he goes with guidelines to follow. If he doesn’t make the team next year his options are limited. At this point a year in the NCAA would be a viable option if it was legal.
The fact he didn’t make Team Canada along with Misa and others showed how flawed those decisions were.
Players drafted top 10 are the best players available and are treated very delicately to their specific needs.
Finally and the most ignorant calling the OHL a pickup league. Wow I have heard many things in 10 years on HfBoards but that is ridiculous at least show some respect to a league that develops more prospects than any other.
To address the last post London has more talent on it this year than last and will be favorites to win the OHL and Memorial Cup. Crazy amount of highly skilled players and just maybe in the top 3 in the franchises history, time will dictate the rest.
Edit- London 13 NHL Drafted Players
Saginaw has 2

 

[Bounces R Way]

He's done it. Added 3A already this game to get him within 4pts of 100 as well.

 

[Kingpin794]

He's done it. Added 3A already this game to get him within 4pts of 100 as well.

Fun fact: the last time a defenseman in the CHL got 100 points was Ryan Ellis. Know who he got that 100th point against? Saginaw. Was in the building when it happened. Couple Windsor fans went nuts in front of me when it happened. Was too young to full grasp what happened. Going to enjoy it this time around.

 

[Yepthatsme]

He's done it. Added 3A already this game to get him within 4pts of 100 as well.

It’s insane to me that barring something crazy happening, Parekh is going to finish this season with “first multi 30 goal seasons since 1980 by a defenseman” and “most points by a defenseman in the OHL since 1993-94”, and the majority of this downright historic run he’s been on has been dominated by discussion of if he’s likely to turn out like Deangelo.

Edit: more on why this is starting to turn into an all time run in the CHL, since Christmas break (wonder what may have happened there) he has 60 points in 27 games, for 2.22 point per game pace. To put in perspective how insane of a run that is for a defenseman, only Andrew Cristall has a higher point per game this season in the CHL.

 

[JurassicTunga]

Joins Bobby Orr. Wild stuff.

 

[newmanager]

He joins Bobby Orr. BOBBY ORR of all people.
Notice how it's not " he joins Anthony DeAngelo"? DeAngelo. Lol. Chop off one of his legs and he's still better than DeAngelo ever was.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He joins Bobby Orr. BOBBY ORR of all people.
Notice how it's not " he joins Anthony DeAngelo"? DeAngelo. Lol. Chop off one of his legs and he's still better than DeAngelo ever was.

So because he joined Bobby Orr in junior it means he will be Bobby Orr in the NHL?

DeAngelo is roughly a top 2 defenseman scorer for a draft. Unless you suggest that Parekh will translate into like the best or at least one of the best scorers in the NHL for a defenseman, DeAngelo is a much more accurate comparison. Maybe you don’t like DeAngelo personally, but show some more respect to that Parekh hasn’t accomplished an ounce of what DeAngelo has (of course no one expects a D+1 player to accomplish more than a 29 year old, but you claimed to the contrary).