Zayne Parekh’s start has not looked like the one Calgary expected, but the problem around him goes deeper than a few early-season growing pains. The 20-year-old defenseman is in his second professional season and already has 43-career NHL games on his ledger, yet the flashes of offensive flair that made him such a draw have been too scattered to carry the load.
The out-of-this-world passes, the edge work, the vision - they’re still there in brief bursts. They just aren’t showing up often enough, and the situation around him is making the adjustment harder.
A big part of that comes down to the pairing the Flames have leaned on. Head coach Ryan Huska has already made a number of questionable lineup choices this season, and the decision to keep Parekh alongside Jake Middleton on the third pair has stood out.
Middleton, who came to Calgary in the Blake Coleman trade as the Minnesota Wild looked to clear salary, was supposed to offer depth and stability. Instead, the first five games have brought no points and a minus-5 rating.
That’s not what Calgary needed from a veteran defender built around steadiness and physical play. Middleton has had a respectable career as a defensively sound depth piece, but the numbers and the eye test are not matching the role right now.
More importantly, the fit with Parekh is doing the young defenseman no favors. A player with Parekh’s skill set is supposed to be able to lean on an experienced partner, take some chances, and trust that the other side of the ice is covered.
That support hasn’t been there.
The result is more pressure on Parekh to solve problems on his own while he is still learning the league. And because the Flames never framed this season as a chase for a playoff spot, the issue is less about standings and more about the alarming lack of structure. For a team expecting Middleton to help steady the back end, the opening stretch has been rough enough to force a rethink.
One possible answer is waiting in the system. Hunter Brzustewicz, 21, turned heads throughout preseason and training camp and looked like a real candidate for the opening night roster. He instead started with the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League and has opened well, posting one goal and two points through four games with a plus-1 rating.
Getting Brzustewicz into the lineup would require some roster juggling, but Middleton’s early struggles make waivers a realistic possibility. Another option would be shifting Parekh into a different spot, since he has spent the season on the right side even though the puck movement in attack and transition often sends play to the left to create space. Pairing him with Zach Whitecloud would let Parekh move to the left side while getting a steadier partner beside him.
If that happens, Yan Kuznetsov could slide down to the third pair with Brzustewicz, though that would likely mean Middleton either clears waivers or heads to the press box. Even then, he could still provide veteran presence in the locker room.
Calgary’s start has been historically bad, with only one or two truly good periods of hockey through five games. Jonathan Castagna and Aydar Suniev have given the team something in their small sample size, and the next step may be even more obvious: give the young prospects more runway.
In Other News...
Flames Finally Got The Response Fans Needed After That Start
After a season-opening skid that had Calgary looking for any kind of traction, the Flames found a response in Anaheim. They built an early lead, lost it when penalties opened the door for the Ducks, then settled back in and played with more purpose over the second and third periods. The result was a 4-2 road win that at least gave the club something to point to beyond the frustration of its first few outings.
Aydar Suniev helped turn the night around with the tying goal and a key setup on the go-ahead score, while Martin Pospisil added the late game-winner after beating the Ducks off the rush. Dustin Wolf also had to be sharp when the game was still hanging in the balance, and the Flames eventually closed it out with Yegor Sharangovich sealing it into an empty net. The penalty issues still stood out, but for one night Calgary looked more like a team willing to push through the mistakes instead of being buried by them. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Trade Buzz Is Growing But One Frustrating Reality Remains
Early-season trade chatter is starting to pick up around the league, and the Calgary Flames have a name in the middle of it. Connor Zary has drawn attention from Vancouver, part of a broader stretch of roster movement and lineup uncertainty across the NHL as teams try to sort out needs before the market settles. For Calgary, it adds another layer to a season already being watched closely, since interest in a young forward can say as much about outside perception as it does about the player himself.
Zarys situation is especially notable because the Flames are not dealing with this in isolation. While other clubs are juggling injuries, extensions and possible trade targets, Calgary has a developing player who appears to be on the radar of another Pacific Division team. The question now is whether that interest becomes anything more concrete, or whether it remains another example of a player attracting attention without any easy answer for what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Face A Tough Blue Line Call As Trade Buzz Builds
The Flames are still sorting through the ripple effects of an active market, and the blue line is right in the middle of it. Simon Edvinsson has come back to North America to train while working toward a deal with Detroit before the Dec. 1 deadline to make this season count, leaving one more notable name in the defensive conversation and keeping attention on how much movement could still be ahead around Calgary.
Zach Whitecloud has also been part of the chatter, with Toronto taking a look at the veteran defender as it gauges its options. For Calgary, he arrived in the Rasmus Andersson trade and has brought the profile of a Stanley Cup winner, but the early returns have been quiet so far, and that only adds another layer to a blue line picture that already feels unsettled as the deadline buzz starts to build. [Read more 🡒]