Fans are excited about the prospects in the Calgary Flames’ pipeline, that much is clear. Read More
Fans are excited about the prospects in the Calgary Flames’ pipeline, that much is clear. With the Flames fighting for their playoff lives, our weekly call for questions generated a lot of queries about Zayne Parekh — who joined the team on Tuesday after his junior season ended — and a few other intriguing prospects.
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Fans are excited about the prospects in the Calgary Flames’ pipeline, that much is clear.
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With the Flames fighting for their playoff lives, our weekly call for questions generated a lot of queries about Zayne Parekh — who joined the team on Tuesday after his junior season ended — and a few other intriguing prospects.
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This week, Danny Austin takes a crack at five questions we were asked on Twitter/X:
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Q: What was the point of calling Zayne Parekh up if there were no intentions of playing him? Wouldn’t he boost our lineup by a lot?
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Danny: I’m going to start with the second question here because I do think that it sort of feeds into the first. Parekh is, undoubtedly, an incredible talent who has dominated at the junior level and has a bright future. However, I don’t know that we’ve seen any concrete evidence that suggests he’s ready to come into an NHL lineup and contribute, though.
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The pre-season can only tell us so much, but the reality is that Parekh didn’t stand out throughout training camp last fall. That was to be expected, he was 18 years old, but it wasn’t like there was any controversy when he was sent back to the Saginaw Spirit to spend a final season in the OHL.
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Could seven months spent bulking up and focusing on his development have transformed Parekh to the point where he could boost the Flames right now? Possibly and after their power-play has gone 2-for-11 in their past five games, I totally understand why there might be people feeling like he might help there.
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In my colleague Wes Gilbertson’s excellent long read on Parekh published last week, Sergei Samsonov asserted that Parekh could run a power-play right now.
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With that said, even this year we’ve seen Hunter Brzustewicz go from putting up big numbers in the OHL to having to make big adjustments at the AHL level with the Calgary Wranglers. It’s a big jump from junior to the pros and it’s probably only natural that it will take Parekh time to adjust.
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And I’d argue that’s probably the point of calling up Parekh. Get him around the professionals and give him a head-start on his preparations for next season, when you’re actually expecting him to be playing regular minutes.
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Q: Will (Matvei Gridin) play for the Wranglers next season? He’s got nothing left to prove in the CHL. Which other prospects could possibly join him?
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Danny: I suppose there’s a possibility that Gridin could have a bad camp next September and find himself returning for another season in the QMJHL, but I don’t see that happening. So yes, it seems like a pretty safe bet to say that the 28th-overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft will be with the Wranglers next season.
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He’s eligible because when he was drafted, he was still in the USHL and not the CHL, so he doesn’t need to be 20 years old to play in the AHL next year, like many of the other players the Flames took in last year’s draft.
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And after scoring 36 goals and 43 assists in 56 games with the Shawinigan Cataractes, excitement rightfully has grown about Gridin’s future. Getting him into a professional environment is only going to help and, hopefully, fast-track his development.
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As for what other prospects could join Gridin on the Wranglers roster next year? You’d expect Aydar Suniev to start the season there after he signed a pro deal last week, while Luke Misa, Andrew Basha and Eric Jamieson will all be eligible to make the jump to the AHL next season, too.
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Q: Do you expect Suniev in the lineup any time soon?
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Danny: The short answer here is no. Not unless the Flames are officially eliminated from playoff contention, at least.
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If that does happen, anything goes and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Suniev (or Parekh) get in the lineup for a game, but I talked to GM Craig Conroy after Suniev was signed and he said they hadn’t made any promises about game time this season.
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Q: If the Flames miss the playoffs and Parekh likely not returning to the OHL, do you see the Flames moving veterans this summer (to possibly bottom out or open up spots on the Wranglers)? Also, what’s the chance the Vegas pick will be good?
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Danny: I haven’t seen anything that suggests the Flames are about to change their tune on the whole rebuild vs. re-tool debate, although the 2026 draft generally is considered to be stacked and it might be worth it.
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But I’m not sure the Flames could — or should — be bad enough to snag a top-5 overall pick in a year’s time, anyways, so it probably doesn’t make sense.
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Could they deal away a veteran? There’s been a ton of social-media chatter about Rasmus Andersson and it won’t go away until he signs a new contract. Otherwise, I don’t see it happening.
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There aren’t exactly a bunch of Wranglers players who are knocking on the NHL door and demanding to be let in right now. Hopefully, a good summer could get a guy like Sam Honzek or Rory Kerins closer to being an everyday NHLer, but they’ve got to prove it.
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As for the unprotected 2026 first-round pick the Flames acquired from the Golden Knights in the trade that sent Noah Hanifin the other way, it’s going to come late in the round. Do we really see the Golden Knights tumbling down the standings next year? Lots of good players get picked towards the end of the first round, so there’s no use being anything other than optimistic.
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Q: I read that the Flames had an interest in college UFA centre (Carter) King. Any news on that?
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Danny: It’s no secret that the Flames are interested in Carter King, who attended their development camp last summer. There’s no news right now because the University of Denver Pioneers qualified for the NCAA’s Frozen Four tournament and they’ll play Western Michigan on Thursday. He can’t sign anywhere until his season is done, so hold tight on news.
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Could the Flames be attractive? He’s a Calgary kid and the organization is light on depth at centre, so there would be opportunities for him.
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Is there a Hot Topic that you’d like Danny Austin and Wes Gilbertson to discuss next week? Send your questions to daustin@postmedia.com or wgilbertson@postmedia.com.
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