CALGARY — When last we saw Zayne Parekh, he was off to the mall to buy jeans.
Ridden hard by MacKenzie Weegar and Mikael Backlund for attending a late-season dinner in joggers, the Flames first-rounder punctuated his rousing NHL debut in the final regular-season game by promising to dash out for denim.
Symbolic of just how many eyes are on the defenceman’s every move since being drafted ninth overall last summer, a trouser update somehow seemed appropriate Wednesday at WinSport, following the opening day of Flames’ development camp.
“I actually went to the mall to buy some. I was going to get dress shoes too, and I just didn’t get a thing,” chuckled Parekh, who astounded Flames mates by insisting he’s never owned jeans.
“I’ve gotta go (get some). Eventually, I’m going to have to. Probably best to get it done now.”
Whether he gets sized up for a pair of Wranglers in time for Stampede, the more pertinent question around these parts is whether he’ll be a fit for the Flames this fall.
Asked if he felt better equipped than last year to stick with the big club, the uber-confident Saginaw star smiled.
“I mean, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t probably believe in myself,” said Parekh, who left his first training camp in Calgary “humbled” before being sent down for another stellar junior campaign.
“I didn’t have a lot of time last year to prepare for camp, and I was in over my head. Especially when you’re kind of nervous and, [thinking]‘hopefully I don’t mess up or make a mistake,’ you’re kind of attracting those thoughts, and it’s gonna come.
“So, I think this time around, I’m more confident. I mean, I got a taste at the end, I understand kind of what it takes to play in the NHL. I got a little grasp of it, so hopefully that’ll help.”
Indeed, he did get a taste, becoming the sixth-youngest defender in NHL history to score in his NHL debut, capping a late-season call-up with the club that gave him ten days of big-league experience.
That, combined with his second-straight 30-goal season in Saginaw, served as a motivator and confidence-builder for a young man who is almost a shoo-in to start this fall with the Flames, given he is too young to play in the AHL and too good to return to the OHL.
“I think there was an opportunity (to make the Flames) last year too, but I wasn’t ready for it,” said Parekh, who punctuated his junior playoff ousting with the one-game Flames showing, followed by some exhibition action overseas with Canada at the world championship.
“Being around the guys last year, I kind of realized I’m meant for this, I belong. And I noticed that kind of in the first couple days of practicing with them, it wasn’t too much to handle or anything. I fit in. And you’ve got to go from fitting in, to kind of taking another step there, being a guy that drives pace.
“Obviously I’m still young, and it’ll come with time.”
Focused on spending his summer adding muscle to his six-foot, 179-pound frame, Parekh also demonstrated his much deeper, cerebral side by talking openly about his desire to improve himself away from the rink.
“It’s been a tough month for me off the ice, kind of just reinventing myself as a person, trying to be a guy I want to have dinner with,” said Parekh, who graduated high school at age 16 and took online courses at the University of Toronto at age 17.
“Working on myself off the ice, I think, is really important, and something I’m taking really serious.
“You’ve just kind of got to keep growing as a person. I think for me it’s completely aside from hockey, and it’s not even close to having anything to do with hockey, but learning how to communicate with people better, and listening.
“Everyone could work on it, and I think it has given me something to do over the past month or so.”
Some pretty profound introspection from a lad in his teens.
“Yeah, I mean, when you do some self-reflection, and some things happen, it’s better to learn young than kind of grow up and have to change those things when I’m 35,” he said.
Becoming just the second OHL defenceman in league lore since Bobby Orr to post back-to-back 30-goal seasons, Parekh is the most exciting prospect in an organization that continues to emphasize its renewed youth movement.
With Rasmus Andersson on his way out of town via trade sometime between now and the trade deadline, even more room is about to open up for the right-shooting native of Markham, Ont.
And the fact that he rebounded from a tough showing with a 33-goal, 107-point season in 61 games, not to mention his Flames debut, has Calgary director of player development, Ray Edwards, all smiles.
“He learned so much from that experience, and then coming in at the end and being around everybody for that period of time and then playing a game, his confidence level is high,” said Edwards, overseeing the team’s top 24 prospects as they spent the first of two days skating at WinSport Wednesday.
“He had a great showing at the worlds, too, so he has every reason to feel good about his game.”
