Calgary Flames top prospect Zayne Parekh will be on a pairing with stalwart defensive defenceman Kevin Bahl when the team hosts the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday evening in preseason action at the Saddledome.
Parekh and Bahl also played together in the 2024-25 season finale in Los Angeles, where Parekh scored in his NHL debut.
Head coach Ryan Huska feels that the 6-foot-6 Bahl’s defensive acumen and long reach can continue to complement the 19-year-old Parekh, who the coach described as a “rover” with how he plays on the back end. Parekh and Bobby Orr are the only Ontario Hockey League blueliners in history with multiple 30-goal campaigns.
“Kevin is a very heady player,” Huska said. “He’s a stay-at-home defenceman that’s got the ability to make plays and I think he [complements] an offensive defenceman that’s a little more all over the ice.”
Bahl and Rasmus Andersson played the third-most of any pairing in the NHL last season, spending more than 1,130 minutes together on the ice while starting just 41 per cent of their shifts in the offensive zone.
Bahl said the key for him is to take care of their own end so that Parekh, drafted ninth overall by Calgary in 2024, can jump up more.
“He’s obviously a highly skilled player,” Bahl said. “Lots of confidence, a little swagger on him. I think the big thing for him is to let him do his thing tonight.”
Bahl feels he and Parekh can bring out the best in each other.
“When I’m playing well, it’s good gaps, good stick, good defensively,” Bahl continued. “When he’s playing well, he’s jumping up. He’s getting good shots off, stuff like that.”
Parekh’s offensive instincts will allow the play to open up.
“Let him take his own space and you just play off it,” Bahl said. “Especially when you have someone that can jump up [and] read the play like he does.”
Projected lines
Huberdeau-Frost-Coronato
Zary-Kirkland-Klapka
Gridin-Kerins-Sharangovich
Stromgren-Morton-Honzek
Bahl-Parekh
Solovyov-Pachal
Kuznetsov-Brzustewicz
Wolf
Say
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