Recently, many of the best young prospects gathered in Minneapolis for the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase, a week-long event that includes Canada, the United States, Sweden, Finland, and Czechia where teams practice and play exhibition games to help with the selection process for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
Related: 3 Final Takeaways From World Junior Summer Showcase Week
Following the event, Scott Wheeler, Corey Pronman, and Max Bultman of The Athletic put out projected rosters for all five countries that attended the event. The Calgary Flames were well represented at this event and on these projected rosters, so let’s discuss which Flames’ prospects participated in the event and which ones are projected to represent their countries.
Zayne Parekh – Team Canada
The Flames drafted Zayne Parekh with the ninth-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Before this draft, he was widely regarded as one of the best skaters in the class and potentially the best defensive prospect eligible to be drafted in 2024 after putting up 33 goals and 63 assists for 96 points in 66 games as a defenseman in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
After being drafted, Parekh returned to the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit for the 2024-25 season, where he built off his incredible 2023-24 campaign. He scored another 33 goals and added 74 assists for 107 points in 61 games, which made him the OHL’s leader in goals and points among defensemen for the second straight season.
For Parekh, it is not a question if he has the talent to make this roster. Not only was he a top-10 pick, but he has also been ranked fourth in The Athletic‘s top drafted prospect rankings for 2025 (Top 100 drafted NHL prospects ranking: Schaefer, Misa, Demidov lead Wheeler’s summer 2025 list, The Athletic, July 14, 2025).
The question is, more so, will he be playing in the NHL this season with the Flames? With the Flames already having Mackenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson on their roster, there is reason to believe the Flames won’t want three offensive-minded defenseman on their right side. However, at this point, Parekh’s talent feels undeniable, and regardless of roster construction, it feels like he has an excellent chance to make the Flames roster after immediately making an impact last season, scoring his first-career NHL goal in his first and only NHL game.
If he is a consistent part of the Flames lineup next season, it is unlikely they…
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