CALGARY — As the Calgary Flames snapped the puck around Anaheim’s zone like a high-stakes game of keep-away, Zayne Parekh found himself circling awfully close to Wayne Gretzky’s office:
Behind the opposition’s net.
Not generally a place for defencemen.
“Yeah, I'm kind of all over the place at times,” he chuckled of his roving approach on the power play.
"Last year, I was probably scared to make some of the plays that I'm making right now, especially the start of last year. But I feel like in the last 12 months it's been a big, big step for me. I do feel really good with the puck. I'm happy with the way things are going.”
His rather unique positioning Friday night was all part of the Flames’ magically transformed power play, which has gone from perennial laughingstock to a shocking fourth in the league.
Parekh is a huge reason why.
Give him the puck with the man advantage and watch him go. He's constantly moving, manipulating defenders, finding seams and creating options. A middle linebacker on skates.
He's not simply quarterbacking the power play. He's conducting it.
“All five of us are kind of all over the place at times, but we just move pucks really well and we support each other wherever,” said the 20-year-old.
“Everyone's doing a great job, so I do take a lot of pride in that for sure.”
A perfect example of his mastery with the man advantage came Friday against Anaheim when he took a cross-seam pass from Morgan Frost, and after drawing the crowd and netminder towards him, he sent it back across the ice for Joel Farabee to put into a gaping net.
Few players in the NHL would have had the confidence and creativity to make it happen.
It was his second assist in the period, and what looked to be a potential game-winner…until the Ducks scored four straight to win 5-3.
This season isn’t measured by points, but by growth.
And for the last few weeks, Parekh is finally playing like the player the Flames thought they were getting when they made him the ninth-overall pick in 2024.
He's confident. He's comfortable. He's creating. And, most importantly, he's no longer looking over his shoulder wondering if the next mistake will be his last for a few games.
The shackles are off.
"I feel good,” said Parekh, flashing that megawatt smile of his.
“I feel like I'm playing good hockey. I feel like I belong.”
There's a world of difference between that assessment and the uncertainty that followed him through much of last season.
The speed, size and relentless pressure of the NHL weighed on him mentally, affecting his play whenever he was in the lineup. And he wasn't in it nearly enough.
He probably should have spent most of last season developing in the AHL, but a since-removed CBA rule prevented that from happening. Instead, he endured a difficult, stop-and-start introduction to the world's best league that he doesn't particularly enjoy discussing.
It was a painful education – complete with an injury - for a player who had spent his junior career making defenders look silly and putting up back-to-back 30-goal seasons.
Now, with his feet under him, and confidence fully intact, his focus is simple.
“I want to contribute to our wins any way I can do that,” said Parekh, who was at his creative best early Friday with a series of offensive forays and a laser off the post.
"I want to be a difference-maker.”
He's starting to look every bit like one.
His numbers don't exactly scream offensive dynamo — one goal and six assists through 16 games. But anyone judging his impact by the scoresheet is missing the bigger picture.
Two 30-goal seasons in the Ontario Hockey League made it abundantly clear what kind of offensive ceiling this kid possesses. The trick has always been getting him comfortable enough at the NHL level to let that talent breathe.
And for him to work hard on shoring up his defensive play, which he’s doing.
“A lot of the parts that I needed to work on have improved a lot, and me and (coach Ryan Huska) are seeing the same things when it comes to that,” said Parekh.
“We've talked about a lot of game management stuff and a lot of the stuff off the rush, more gaps and breakouts."
The coach is seeing the progress.
"At the beginning of the year, he was trying to go all the time," Huska said.
"Now he's starting to learn how to pick and choose his spots better."
That's an important distinction.
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Huska pointed to Quinn Hughes as an example of the kind of dynamic defenceman Parekh can learn from. Hughes is constantly involved offensively, but knows when to stay home, remain patient and let the game come to him.
And that understanding is what separates an exciting offensive prospect from a defenceman a coach can trust every night.
Huska is under no illusion Parekh is a finished product. He still has to learn how to handle the league's heavier players and continue improving defensively.
But there's no longer any question about his NHL status.
"He's not only just a full-time NHLer, he can be a difference-maker," Huska said.
He's an NHLer. A power-play wiz.
A young defenceman the franchise can build around.
