Hockey Canada names Zayne Parekh to World Championship pre-tournament camp
Calgary, AB – As the hockey world prepares for the 2025 IIHF World Championship beginning on May 9th, Hockey Canada named its first 15 rostered players on Thursday. Additionally, it was announced that Spirit defenseman Zayne Parekh will join the team’s pre-tournament camp with hopes of cracking the final roster.
Parekh has just completed his third season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with Saginaw. He finished the 2024-2025 season with a career-best 107 points (33G-74A) in 61 games, becoming the first OHL defenseman since Ryan Ellis (Windsor Spitfires, 2010-11) to break the 100-point barrier. Parekh went on to lead the team in scoring during the postseason, with two goals and seven assists in five games.
His season culminated in his April 17th NHL debut with the Calgary Flames, who drafted Parekh at 9th overall in 2024. With a third-period deflection goal, Parekh became the sixth-youngest defenseman in NHL history to score in his league debut.
Parekh finished as a runner up for the 2025 Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL’s best defenseman, though his 33G-74A—107P stat line lead OHL blueliners in all three categories. He won the award last season as an 18-year-old in addition to being named the CHL Defenseman of the Year. Also of note, Parekh became just the second defenseman in OHL/OHA history to record multiple 30-goal seasons, joining only Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Orr (Oshawa Generals, 1962-1966).
Canada’s camp will convene in Vienna, Austria and Budapest, Hungary. Pretournament games will take place on May 4th and May 6th, with regular competition running from May 9th-25th in Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark.
