Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
The Calgary Flames continue to search for answers, and the Calgary Wranglers are a big part of the equation.
After missing all season, the forward Martin Pospisil Came to the Wranglers for training and played two games over the weekend. star rookie forward Matvey GerdinThe man who was selected as an AHL All-Star last week is once again promoted to the Flames. William Strenggren He returned to the Wranglers after making his NHL debut on January 7.
Then comes one of the Flames' biggest decisions. They sent a 19-year-old defender Zain Parekh Conditional loan available to Wrangler.
Parikh's resume is definitely multi-page. He earned top defenseman honors in the Ontario Hockey League and Canadian Hockey League in 2023-24 before coming to the Flames as the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. That same season, he won the Memorial Cup with Saginaw, scoring 33 goals and finishing with 96 points. Saginaw added 33 goals and 107 points last season, leading all defensemen in the OHL.
Parekh made his NHL debut last April 17 and scored one goal before making the Flames' opener roster this fall.
But he only played 11 games before missing a month. He was activated from the injured reserve list in time to join Team Canada for the IIHF World Junior Championship, where he scored 13 points in seven games to help Team Canada win the bronze medal.
But he still hasn't played a professional game since Nov. 7. So the Flames sent him to the Wranglers to get much-needed ice time. He was in the starting lineup against Bakersfield on Sunday, on the right side of the defense Nick Cisek And working on the power play. The Wranglers lost 1-0 in overtime by one point, setting them up for a relatively quiet week of work until LaVar arrives this weekend.
Parekh admitted after the game that he didn't feel “well,” but that's to be expected from someone who hasn't played professionally in more than two months.
head coach Brett SutterHowever, he came away encouraged by his latest addition.
“I think he's getting better,” Sutter said. “I think he still needs to play the game faster.”
That's how it works sometimes in the AHL. Development is not always a clean, straightforward and smooth process. Getting ready for an NHL opportunity requires a lot of trial and error until they make the right decision. Sutter, who has played 1,090 AHL games himself, is confident in the process.
“He’s going to continue to get better every day here,” Sutter added. “He'll be fine. He'll be better next game.”
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
