Coyotes vs. Toronto Jr. Canadiens - November 2, 2020

Despite being the youngest player on the ice while playing as an underage player for another season with this JRC team, you wouldn’t know it by his play in the game. Parekh is a smooth skater who uses his edges so effectively to be a mobile defenseman, and he did so throughout the game in a multitude of ways. Defensively he consistently maneuvered himself in and out of tight spaces and pressure with mohawks or quick weight shifts and footwork. While also using his acceleration to join the offence, specifically on the rush turning even strength rushes into odd man rushes. With being a year younger and still developing with his strength, at times during the game he struggled with the physicality that was still there a bit even though it was non-contact.

I thought it was a bit of a mixed bag for Zayne today due to some of his outlet choices and defensive energy. Overall though, the best parts of his game were still on display by jumping up into the play, anticipating the flow of possession, and making sure to throw some hesitation moves to create shooting lanes. He has the agility and confidence to roam a little bit defensively too and at times would chase puck carriers aggressively to deny them skating lanes and his partner would have to adjust.

There were a lot of good defenders contributing to Canada Black over the course of this game, but the one who intrigued me the most was the final goal scorer of the game: Zayne Parekh. The major reasons being Parekh’s involvement in transition, willingness to activate in the offensive zone, instincts to find space around the ice and, of course, the goal itself — a brilliant reception in the midst of utter chaos around the slot that he wastes no time to fire into the mesh.

Before the last few minutes of the game I have to say, Zayne Parekh was not going to be mentioned in this report; but after scoring two goals in the final four minutes he changed my mind. His game did not stand out too much earlier in the contest, he displayed his usual excellent skating ability as he is one of the more fluid skaters out there. He had some chances in the middle of the game but he really stepped it up at the end where he used his skating and vision to open the ice up for himself. His first goal was great and he really attacked the ice at the point and once he created the window for him to get a shot through he wired it to the top corner. His second goal was some of the same, just with a little less intensity to it, but again he was able to carve himself a shooting lane using his legs and getting the puck on goal creates wonderful things. D’Aigle may want that second one back, but Parekh still deserves credit for his decision making on the puck and ability to get his shots in on goal.

Parekh is a gifted puck rushing, right shot, D-man who is positionally sound and trusts his mobility to skate the puck out of danger. He gets up and down the ice with ease – great edges and agility. Logs significant minutes without tiring and is the quarterback of his teams powerplay. A really impressive offensive defenceman with a high ceiling at the next level. One of the best skaters available in the upcoming draft.

Zayne Parekh was one of the most exciting defensemen to watch in this one thanks to his elite offensive instincts. On many occasions he faked out the Team Black defenses’ by tricking them all into thinking he was going to shoot the puck – only to freeze up the man covering him allowing him to feed a cross-seam pass to an open man for a quality scoring chance. His ability to quickly and easily move the puck at the line to hit open teammates was remarkable. He was inevitably rewarded for his strong playmaking game by picking up an assist on Jacob Battaglia’s powerplay goal. Another display of his high hockey IQ was when he deliberately shot the puck for a deflection. It was clear that he saw the opportunity to shoot for his teammates’ stick, as he readjusted his positioning near the top of the zone to change the shooting lane in which he connected on a shot-pass to the blade of a teammate. His stick checks and defensive positioning were also strong, with good edges and speed to keep up with the pace of play he was more often than not in the right position and able to disrupt the puck carrier with stick checks.

I won’t lie, there were times in this game where I was left scratching my head after certain plays that Parehk made, but overall there were just so many potentially impactful elements that I felt I had to include him here. Parehk was effective at holding the blueline in the offensive zone, and commonly made quick reads to identify cross-seam opportunities and set up prime scoring opportunities by exploiting those lanes. He used quick and skillful footwork to get himself into open ice when either he was subject to high pressure from a winger, or when he wasn’t able to find an available passing lane. When defending the rush, I thought there were a couple instances when Parehk was forced onto his heels quite early, losing his speed and in turn his gap. He’s definitely not afraid to push the envelope of risk in transition which may cost him on occasion but offensively speaking, Parehk creates a ton of opportunity.