The Flames have concurrently signed a trio of prospects to three-year, entry-level contracts, together with 2024 ninth-overall choose Zayne Parekh, as relayed by Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson. Proper winger Matvei Gridin, who they took with the twenty eighth general choose final week, and 2023 second-rounder Étienne Morin additionally signed their rookie offers.
Parekh, 18, stands the best likelihood out of the trio to be on the opening night time roster in October, though it could nonetheless be a shock. The correct-shot defenseman has arguably the best offensive ceiling of any blue liner on this yr’s class, even forward of the Blackhawks’ second-overall choose, Artyom Levshunov. He was electrical for the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit final season, main them throughout the board with 33 targets, 63 assists and 96 factors in 66 video games with a +39 score. It might be a formidable feat for any draft-eligible skater, however particularly from the again finish.
He went a bit later than most individuals anticipated him to go, too, so there’s a good bit of steal potential with the choose. Elite Prospects ranked him because the No. 5 prospect within the class, whereas TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s polling of NHL scouts yielded him at No. 8. He was the third defenseman off the board after Chicago took Levshunov and the Senators chosen Carter Yakemchuk.
If Parekh does make the NHL squad out of camp, it’ll doubtless be on a nine-game trial to keep away from burning the primary yr of his entry-level deal. At such a younger age, one other yr with Saginaw can be helpful to spherical out his two-way sport. His ELC is eligible to slip twice, and he gained’t be eligible for a full-time AHL project till 2026-27.
The 18-year-old Gridin additionally put pen to paper on his ELC, confirming he gained’t be attending the College of Michigan within the fall as beforehand anticipated. As a substitute, the Flames will mortgage him to his junior membership. The QMJHL’s Val-d’Or Foreurs took him first general within the CHL Import Draft later this week, however they’re anticipated to deal him to the Rimouski Océanic earlier than coaching camp begins, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler reviews. That may imply he’d play within the 2025 Memorial Cup, with Rimouski internet hosting the occasion. Only some scouting websites pegged him as a late first-round choose — many extra had him going within the second spherical. He was ranked thirty seventh in McKenzie’s year-end polling. Gridin, a local of Kurgan, Russia, had 38 targets and 83 factors in 60 video games for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL final season.
Morin, 19, is a left-shot defenseman who went forty eighth general within the 2023 draft. He’s a bodily concerned two-way menace who had a little bit of a step again in his post-draft season, posting 12 targets and 37 assists for 49 factors with a -9 score in 58 video games for the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL. He’d posted higher offensive and defensive outcomes the yr prior, with 72 factors in 67 video games with a +29 score. Calgary is anticipated to mortgage Morin again to Moncton for his last season of junior hockey this season, sliding the start of his ELC to 2025-26.