Inside Wheeler’s Shocking Summer 2025 NHL Prospect Rankings: Who’s the True Future Star?
Parekh plays an aggressive and natural offensive style that looks to attack off the line into the slot or even the front of the net or below the goal line. He’ll also regularly involve himself in the rush, much like a winger does, driving down the wall in control to look to challenge defenders and attack into his shot or create an odd-man rush. He’s extremely confident offensively and opens up his feet (where necessary) around the zone without going to his heel-to-heel by default. He has great hands and a casual-looking skating posture (he has excellent feet crossing over and falling onto his heels, but does lack pull-away speed in straight lines going forward), which he uses to carry pucks with a visual ease and beat the first layer of pressure to get to his spots. When the puck arrives on his stick, it just seems to stop and glue to him through his movements — a very rare quality that almost makes him look lackadaisical with the puck because it’s settled so easily into his pocket and upright stance. He likes to roam, but he’s also learning to pick his spots better, and his head is constantly on a swivel to identify where he is in relation to his teammates. When he plays freely, which is almost always, you’re drawn to him whenever he touches the puck because he’s always a threat to make something happen and he sees and identifies plays early. He protects the puck extremely well with players leaning on him, escaping situations you wouldn’t expect him to and often avoiding contact with deft little pre-planned plays (though he’ll also take a hit to make a play). He has great footwork and edges to manipulate across the line and stop up along the boards to change directions or maintain gaps.
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