Columbus Blue Jackets draft candidate, Zayne Parekh has immense upside
By the time the final counts come in, Zayne Parekh could be the most valuable defenseman to come out of this year's draft class. He's certainly got the skill.
If your first reaction to my recommending Zayne Parekh to the Blue Jackets, is to respond by saying "we don't need another offensive defenseman"; I would not blame you. But, hear my argument out anyway, because I think this guy could be really special.
The Jackets are pretty well set for puck movers on the back end. Zach Werenski is still signed long-term. As is Damon Severson. Coming up the pipeline are David Jiricek, Denton Mateychuk, and Stanislav Svozil. Lest we overlook Adam Boqvist, who could still come into form as a big point producer as well.
For these reasons, it's hard to make too big a case for Parekh to the Blue Jackets. But, from a purely offensive standpoint, he may have a higher upside than every player I just mentioned. He's that good.
Parekh is the next great prospect to come along in the mold of Cale Makar, or Adam Fox, or Quinn Hughes. He's a great skating puck mover with elite offensive traits, and I definitely think he has the potential to be as good as all three of these guys. But, that's not to say he's without risk.
Parekh tips the scales at 6'0", around 180 pounds. With a February birthday, he's one of the youngest players available for this upcoming draft. As with any young defenseman with that size, he's often out-matched physically - especially in the defensive zone. And, he's also prone to the occasional mistakes without the puck. But, it's nothing that can't be weeded out in time.
The thing about him is, he's capable of making up for any mistakes by putting up points at the other end. In fact, he did it at an elite level this year - he had a historic season in the OHL.
As a 16 year old rookie last season, Parekh scored 21 goals, which stands as an OHL record for a defenseman at that age. This year, he expanded upon that impressive rookie season by putting up 33 goals and 96 points in 66 games. Remember: he's a defenseman.
This isn't a case of a skilled draft eligible forward playing on a top forward line. In fact, Parekh out-paced more than a handful of those guys this season. He was outright dominant for the Saginaw Spirit, who went on to win the Memorial Cup this season (Parekh had 5 points in 5 MC games).
He scored consistently, at a high level, for an entire season of junior hockey.
What would his selection mean for the Blue Jackets? Let's take a look.
Zayne Parekh has the potential to be an elite offensive defenseman. He could give the Jackets a position of real strength.
I really think the sky is the limit for Parekh. In 3 or 4 years, I could see this guy as a point-per-game player in the NHL, not unlike those three defensemen I listed on the last page.
For this reason - as is the case with the other guys - he could be looked back upon as the most valuable defenseman to come out of this draft. It's just going to take some time, patience, and proper development.
The key here is helping him work out the nuances he needs to learn without the puck, while letting him fluorish offensively. Another year in junior certainly won't hurt. Honestly, I could see him taking two years at that level, unless he takes major steps. I wouldn't want to see him getting out-matched physically and breaking his confidence in the NHL.
He will never be a perfect defender, but his skating will allow him to at least hold par in the NHL. And, with the puck on his stick, he's nothing short of dynamic. He sees the ice like an elite level playmaking forward, and he is equally dangerous as a shooter or a passer.
If the Blue Jackets were to walk away from Parekh at the draft, I think that would mean some kind of moves coming within the organization. They would probably end up trading one or more of their defensemen for help somewhere else. And that's a fine plan, if it were to come into play.
With an already impressive pool of young talent, their motto heading into this draft should be to take the best player left available to them at #4 overall. By the time it's all said and done, that could very well wind up being Zayne Parekh.
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