Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
The Calgary Flames continue searching for answers, and the Calgary Wranglers are a big part of that equation.
After being out of action all season, forward Martin Pospisil came to the Wranglers on a conditioning assignment and played his two games over the weekend. Star rookie forward Matvei Gridin, an AHL All-Star pick last week, picked up another promotion to the Flames. William Strömgren came back to the Wranglers after making his NHL debut on Jan. 7.
And then there was one of the Flames’ biggest decisions. They sent 19-year-old defenseman Zayne Parekh to the Wranglers on a conditioning loan.
Parekh’s resume is definitely a multi-pager. Before he even came to the Flames as the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, he won top defenseman honors from both the Ontario Hockey League and Canadian Hockey League in 2023-24. That same season he won the Memorial Cup with Saginaw, recorded 33 goals, and finished with 96 points. Another 33 goals and 107 points came last season with Saginaw to lead all OHL defensemen.
Parekh made his NHL debut last Apr. 17 and scored a goal, then made the Flames’ opening-night roster this fall.
But he appeared in only 11 games before being sidelined for a month. He was activated off injured reserve in time to join Canada for the IIHF World Junior Championship, where he picked up 13 points in seven games to help Canada secure a bronze medal.
But he still hadn’t played a pro game since Nov. 7. So the Flames sent him to the Wranglers to get much needed ice time. He was in the lineup Sunday against Bakersfield, playing the right side of a defensive pairing with Nick Cicek and working on the power play. The Wranglers picked up a point in a 1-0 overtime loss to send them into a relatively quiet work week until Laval arrives this weekend.
Parekh admitted after the game that he felt “not great,” but that is to be expected for someone who had not played a pro game in more than two months.
Head coach Brett Sutter, however, came away encouraged with his latest addition.
“I thought he got a little better as he went,” Sutter said. “I think he still needs to play the game a little faster.”
That’s how it goes sometimes in the AHL. Development is not always a clean, direct and smooth process. Preparing prospects for NHL opportunities involves plenty of trial-and-error until they get it right. Sutter, who played 1,090 AHL games himself, has confidence in that process.
“He’ll continue to get better here every day,” Sutter added. “He’ll be just fine. He’ll be better next game.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
