Meet Zayne Parekh, the Flames’ top pick in 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 choice with the ninth-overall pick in Friday’s first round at Sphere in Las Vegas, will be a big part of their puzzle for years to come.

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

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“I started a year early in school, started with the 2005s, and then I skipped Grade 7,” Parekh explained in a phone interview with Postmedia. “Through high school, I was sometimes wondering why I was doing this fast-tracking, but my dad had his plan in place to set me up for life. It wasn’t really for hockey, but it was just trying to fast-track me for life, just getting one step ahead of people.”

It turned out to give him a leg up on so many of the other draft-eligibles in the Class of 2024.

Because while they had to balance their hockey and homework, Parekh was fully focused on chasing his NHL dream.

“I’d get to do morning ice and get in the gym in the morning, so it’s perfect for me,” he said. “Honestly, it’s probably had the greatest impact on 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’s just made it easy on me.”

On the ice, Parekh oftentimes makes it look easy.

This on-the-rise righty from Nobleton, Ont., was named the Ontario Hockey League’s most outstanding rearguard after piling up 33 goals and 63 assists in 66 regular-season outings with the Saginaw Spirit. He was also a point-per-game player at the Memorial Cup, helping power the hosts to a tournament title. He posted a plus-6 rating, tops on his team, at the Canadian Hockey League’s championship tournament.

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

Indeed it is, which explains why some scouts believe that Parekh has serious star potential, although he’ll be challenged to shore up his defensive details and add some more muscle to his 6-foot, 178-lb. frame.

“Box Office, that’s what I’m going to call him,” gushed Sportsnet draft analyst Sam Cosentino on the broadcast. “Because I would pay for a ticket to see this guy play. He is that exciting.

“He plays like the game like he is in a rocking chair. Everything is so easy, so cool. There’s so much poise to his game.”

In rocking chairs across southern Alberta, there was a surge of disappointment when the Utah Hockey Club called Tij Iginla’s name at No. 6 overall, spoiling the idea that Jarome’s son could be fitted for a Flames jersey.

It didn’t take long — maybe 15 or 20 minutes — before that turned to excitement about Parekh, the only blue-liner to outscore Hunter Brzustewicz in OHL action in 2023-24. They’re now future teammates, both candidates to run the power-play in Cowtown.

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While the Flames have an impressive stockpile of defence prospects, it made little sense to reach for a forward at No. 9. In the consolidated rankings at Elite Prospects, Parekh was listed as the seventh-best player available in this class. He had a good feeling as Craig Conroy & Co. headed to the podium, saying he had an encouraging interview with Calgary’s contingent at the combine and received positive feedback from his agent afterward.

“I can’t get the smile off my face,” Parekh said Friday night.

He had company in that regard.

“When you watch (Parekh), he just has the high hockey sense, he’s making plays,” a grinning Conroy told Sportsnet after wrapping his first-round work, which also included the selection of USHL scoring standout Matvei Gridin at No. 28. “You know, sometimes it’s risk-reward out there, but it seems like it works more in his favour than against him. Just to get that kind of skill and talent, it was exciting to get him at No. 9.

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

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That championship celebration with the Spirit was Parekh’s all-time hockey highlight … for about four weeks.

“I’m still living on that high,” Parekh told reporters in Las Vegas. “But I think this one might top it. They’re 1 and 2, or 1A and 1B.

“I love to win. I love that feeling of winning and going through those 10 days with that group of guys, I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world honestly. If I could relive it, I would 1,000 times over.”

ICE CHIPS: The 2024 NHL Draft continues Saturday, with Rounds 2-7. The Flames own two picks apiece in the second, third and fourth rounds and one more swing in the sixth … Parekh will see one familiar face at his first development camp in Calgary. The organization had already invited his older brother, Isa, who played this past season with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers and is committed to Bemidji State University. Isa, 20, is also a defenceman … Conroy, when asked by reporters in Las Vegas about his reaction to seeing Tij Iginla selected by Utah in the sixth slot: “I’m happy for Tij and Jarome. You would have loved to have seen him as a Calgary Flame, but I get it. We knew it was a long-shot going in. He just played so well this year. I thought he might go before No. 9.”

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