People forget there’s more than 1 way to defend. Stopping entry is the best form of Defense. He’s just not good once in his zone
terryprice1989
This has always been said by the big prospect analysts like Wheeler and Ellis. They also mention scouts who share same sentiment. He has a very good, active stick and great gap control. This has been evident watching his entire game and not hyper focusing on little mistakes. People just see his weakness in board play and all jump on the horrible defense nonsense narrative ignoring Al the stuff he actually does well. Yes he needs to get stronger and be better on board battles, though hockey offensive Dman are usually never good with that aspect of the game
weschester
I just have to say that part of the reason he looked so awful in his own zone at the WJC is because his D partner was absolutely horrible for most of the tournament. Zayne was regularly hung out to dry because his partner was completely incapable of playing D.
CoastalBee
I’m thinking his zone denial rate is good because he likes to step up on rushing opponents, but the flip side of this amazing stat is when the zone denial fails leading to an odd man rush.
swordthroughtheduck
Parekh’s skating is elite so good gap control is just a part of his game. He knows most guys don’t have the speed or edges to beat him with their skating so he’s able to kill plays effectively off the rush.
Part of killing those plays is a good active stick, and we all know how elite his stick is. Not a surprise either.
His issue is just his boards and net front play because he’s not quite strong enough yet and can’t rely on his skating or stick to completely shut down guys in those situations.
The good news is that at this point in a guy’s career, you can’t really turn him into an elite skater, but you can get him to add a lot of muscle. So he’s got the stuff you can’t teach, and is lacking the stuff you can.
Now it’s just up to Zayne to make that happen.
SirLunatik
Being good at one area of defense doesn’t make you good defensively. Chris Butler blocked shots to a similar rate as Tanev, but no one would have ever mistook him for being good defensively
DueCollection8472
Most analysts and GMs are old heads with room temperature IQ, like the GM that did his best to ruin your team and mine.
_id93_
I am a Habs fan who lives in Calgary and they said the same thing about Hutson, pretty much any offensively gifted d prospect will get this turnstile label from lazy media/fans, it’s all noise, he’s not a finished product and he has an elite goaltender behind him and a shot that literally cannot be taught… so dumb
Erkules19
He’s going to be a legit stud.
Anyone who trashes is jealous or trolling.
specialkaypb
There was a super noticeable play from the Toronto game with about 6 mins left in the third. His gap control was elite, he jumped up to break up a rush and Huberdeau was in the way. It was like huby was playing deeper to try and cover or give extra help to Parekh…. But he was in the way, super far out of position and screwed it up.
Let the kid play. Tell him he’s a superstar and he’ll become one.
I can’t believe how hard this organization is on young guys.
Kibasume
Exactly! He struggles with specific parts of defence yes, but he doesn’t suck at defence overall
therealtimbit78
Small sample size, but let’s see if that continues.
12 Comments
People forget there’s more than 1 way to defend. Stopping entry is the best form of Defense. He’s just not good once in his zone
This has always been said by the big prospect analysts like Wheeler and Ellis. They also mention scouts who share same sentiment. He has a very good, active stick and great gap control. This has been evident watching his entire game and not hyper focusing on little mistakes. People just see his weakness in board play and all jump on the horrible defense nonsense narrative ignoring Al the stuff he actually does well. Yes he needs to get stronger and be better on board battles, though hockey offensive Dman are usually never good with that aspect of the game
I just have to say that part of the reason he looked so awful in his own zone at the WJC is because his D partner was absolutely horrible for most of the tournament. Zayne was regularly hung out to dry because his partner was completely incapable of playing D.
I’m thinking his zone denial rate is good because he likes to step up on rushing opponents, but the flip side of this amazing stat is when the zone denial fails leading to an odd man rush.
Parekh’s skating is elite so good gap control is just a part of his game. He knows most guys don’t have the speed or edges to beat him with their skating so he’s able to kill plays effectively off the rush.
Part of killing those plays is a good active stick, and we all know how elite his stick is. Not a surprise either.
His issue is just his boards and net front play because he’s not quite strong enough yet and can’t rely on his skating or stick to completely shut down guys in those situations.
The good news is that at this point in a guy’s career, you can’t really turn him into an elite skater, but you can get him to add a lot of muscle. So he’s got the stuff you can’t teach, and is lacking the stuff you can.
Now it’s just up to Zayne to make that happen.
Being good at one area of defense doesn’t make you good defensively. Chris Butler blocked shots to a similar rate as Tanev, but no one would have ever mistook him for being good defensively
Most analysts and GMs are old heads with room temperature IQ, like the GM that did his best to ruin your team and mine.
I am a Habs fan who lives in Calgary and they said the same thing about Hutson, pretty much any offensively gifted d prospect will get this turnstile label from lazy media/fans, it’s all noise, he’s not a finished product and he has an elite goaltender behind him and a shot that literally cannot be taught… so dumb
He’s going to be a legit stud.
Anyone who trashes is jealous or trolling.
There was a super noticeable play from the Toronto game with about 6 mins left in the third. His gap control was elite, he jumped up to break up a rush and Huberdeau was in the way. It was like huby was playing deeper to try and cover or give extra help to Parekh…. But he was in the way, super far out of position and screwed it up.
Let the kid play. Tell him he’s a superstar and he’ll become one.
I can’t believe how hard this organization is on young guys.
Exactly! He struggles with specific parts of defence yes, but he doesn’t suck at defence overall
Small sample size, but let’s see if that continues.