This is PERFECT… MASSIVE Flames Prospect Update | Calgary Flames News

This is absolutely perfect for the future. We have a massive Calgary Flames prospect update to talk about, as top prospect Zayn Perek has recently spoken out about his Team Canada World Junior snub and his motivation moving forward. If you didn't already love this kid, you're going to definitely be hyped after watching this video. We're going to get into all that and more in this video, but first I want to welcome you to Flames Digest. I'm Mark Griffin. If you're new around here and you love the Flames, make sure you subscribe so you can stay updated on all the latest news, updates, reports, and rumors revolving around your Calgary Flames. We would love to welcome you to the Flames Digest family, and talking about Zayn is one of the best things you can do as a Flames fan, and how can you not love this kid? It's a question that, I mean, any loving parent should really be asking themselves, but if we're talking about the prospects, it makes even more sense. Zayn Perek already looks incredible. I mean, let's just go over the statistics. He was breaking Bobby Orr's records in junior. He averages one goal per game in his NHL career, which is absolutely insane for anyone, let alone a defenseman, but we have an amazing article to take a look at here. As Zayn Perek was recently on a podcast, I believe it was the Empty Netters podcast, which you tell me, if you listen slash watch the Empty Netters podcast, how do you feel about those guys? I want to get some opinions, but either way, Colton Pankow here, he wrote an article that says Calgary Flames prospect Perek calls world juniors snub a blessing in disguise, which is a great way to look at it, so let's hop in. All credit due to the author for this one, but he says Calgary Flames prospect Zayn Perek seems to have a great head on his shoulders at the young age of 19, and he certainly does. I know when he's saying, you know, great head on his shoulders, he means more so, you know, the emotional maturity, just maturity in general. It doesn't necessarily have to do with his intelligence, but if we get into some of his intelligence, look at this fun fact that the NHL posted the other day. We knew this at draft time, but he graduated high school two years early in order to just focus on hockey. He was that smart. He was able to just finish off high school, and he can solve a Rubik's Cube in less than 40 seconds. Now, I'm not saying it takes a genius to solve a Rubik's Cube, but doing it that fast, taking the concentration, and obviously, you need to be a little bit smart in order to do it that quick. He is super smart when it comes to, you know, academics, education, all of that. Very smart guy, but he just also has the emotional intelligence. He is just, you can't say enough good things about this young man. You honestly can't. It just goes on and on. But before I get too carried away by one small fun fact here, let's hop back into the article. So, the right shot defenseman who has taken ninth overall in the 2024 draft has spoken before about his desire to grow as a person, which you don't often hear from somebody his age. It's a clear reflection of how mature he already is. He is miles above how I was when I was 19. That maturity was on full display in a recent interview with the Empty Netters podcast where he discussed a number of topics, including being snubbed from Canada's World Junior roster. Instead of being bitter over the decision, he's found a way to spin it into a positive. And to remind those who don't remember, he wasn't even originally invited to the training camp for the World Juniors. Then, after an injury, he was invited and still didn't make the team, which was nuts. And then, of course, look how Canada did. They really couldn't get any offense going. Maybe Perrette could have helped out. This is what he had to say. He said, It was good motivation for sure, Perrette admitted. Tried to prove to myself that I was good enough to play there. I would have loved to help the team and maybe it's a different outcome. Maybe not. Hmm. I think the best thing that came from it was that I texted my family group chat right after I got cut, like, hey, let's go on vacation. We went on a family vacation and I think that was kind of the best reset button for me. It made you appreciate other things more and allowed me to spend some time with the family. Maybe a little bit of a blessing in disguise. And that can't go understated. It's so great that Perrette recognizes that. But if you take a look at how busy he was last summer, you know, obviously after winning the Memorial Cup a couple seasons ago now, he was so busy heading into training camp and rookie camp and stuff that he seemed exhausted. And his first half of the OHL season with Saginaw really didn't go all that great. Then he got cut, he got a chance to relax, and it really was a huge reset button for him. He went on an absolute tear to finish the season with the spirit and obviously got to play a game with the Flames. So in a way, getting cut from the World Juniors, I think might have been the best thing that could have possibly happened for him. I mean, who knows? Maybe he would have done unreal at the World Juniors, would have boosted his confidence and he could have played amazing anyway. But honestly, it truly was a blessing in disguise. So having scored 33 goals in back-to-back OHL seasons, Perrette is not just the best prospect in the Flames system, but one of the best throughout the entire NHL. He's expected to crack the Flames roster this coming season after being able to participate in last year's training camp, while also dressing for the regular season finale. Perrette has spoken up about several veterans who made him feel comfortable right away, and one name he's mentioned plenty is Ryan Lombardini. As Flames fans know, Lombard recently took part in a hilarious video previewing the 2025-26 regular season schedule, a video which Perrette watched and had a very similar reaction to all others who saw it. That was all time, said a laughing Perrette. My brother sent it to me on Twitter and I couldn't even open it because it was age-restricted. I'm like, what is my brother sending me right now? I had to go on Instagram to find it and I was just dying for a good two minutes. That was hilarious. Great to know that, obviously, Perrette cares about seeing the Flames stuff on social media too. That's good for a young tot, you know? They've grown up with social media, so that's great. Expect Lombard and many other Flames to look to take Perrette under their wing this coming season as the young Blue Liner looks to make what he and the organization hope to be a seamless transition to the NHL. Yes, that is what most of us expect out of Perrette. The fans, I think we already love him. I mean, personally, he has to be on the back of my next jersey, absolutely. Once he maybe finalizes his jersey number for sure, then my goodness, I'm spending the money right away. Just take my money, I want a Perrette sweater, but either way, so excited, so great to see that once again. He's just saying the right things, and he just is so mature already, so smart for his age, obviously has the emotional maturity and intelligence. It's just wonderful to see, and it doesn't even end there for this video because a lot of people think he's ready for impact, ready to make an impact at the NHL level right away. He's done pretty much everything you can do at the junior level. So another article here, it actually comes from Sports Illustrated of all places. They've been ripping out the hockey articles this summer, but Jacob Punturi here, he writes, Flames Islanders rookie defenseman will make immediate impact. Not are ready or are expected to, he says will make immediate impact. So we're not going to go over the whole article, but he says, despite the decks being stacked against them, these five rookie defenders have the chance to stand out in their first year and make an immediate impact. I don't know if the decks stacked against some of these guys, but either way, we're not going to go over the entire article. The only one we care about is the man who was used in the photo there, and it is, of course, Zane Perreck. I could talk about him all day, but let's see what Mr. Punturi has to say. He says Zane Perreck went on a tear last season after being snubbed from Canada's World Junior Championship roster, and the rest of the CHL paid the price. He scored 33 goals and added 74 assists for 171 points in just 61 games, that's a video game numbers. He made his NHL debut and unsurprisingly scored. Boy, did he ever, and what a celebration it was, absolutely clock and pickles the Texas Tiger Blake Coleman. I could watch that highlight, honestly, every single day. Perreck is an elite skater, excellent with the puck on his stick, and can run a power play. He projects to be a top-pairing defender, and that starts with his rookie season this year. And yes, the expectations are very high. Personally, my expectation for him is for him to be absolutely amazing, but he just really seems like he hasn't. Most exciting prospect I can think of in genuinely my whole lifetime, so it is a blast. One funny comment here I had to show from Twitter was that one person said, Rasmus Anderson, you are a Dallas star, Jason Robertson, welcome to Calgary, Zane Perrecktown, calling Calgary Zane Perrecktown, and the glorious Z of red, or Zed of red, depending on how you want to say it. It works either way. I just thought that was really funny, just saying, Anderson, you're on the stars, we get Robertson. Robertson, you're coming to Calgary, aka Zane Perrecktown. Just hilarious. We've heard Z of red be thrown around, we've heard Zed of red being thrown around, even, I mean, whatever, if you're Canadian, it rhymes at least, but C, Z, you know, either way. Hilarious comment there, and who knows, maybe one day it really will be Zane Perrecktown around these parts. Let's wrap up this video with a comment of the day, as we love to do here on the channel. It comes from yesterday's video, of course, and the comment here comes from Kevin, a bit of a longer one, but he says, it's about the Zary contract situation. So he says, we have no cap issues, why are we grinding Zary so much? Went healthy at the start of the year, and he was one of our most dangerous players on the ice. Give him his 4.0 or 4.5 mil on a two year deal, if Conroy's so concerned, then package him up with Anderson to Dallas, or send him with some futures, and try to pry McTavish out of Anaheim. I don't understand the thinking. Again, it's not like we are desperate for cap space, and Conroy hasn't been eating contracts for extra picks. Come on Connie, quit pulling a tree living. Harsh there at the end, but it is true, like why isn't a deal working out, cap's not a huge problem, could we just package him up in a deal if it's not going to work out? There's a lot of options to do with Zary right now, and honestly, we'll just see what ends up happening. Hopefully we'll be happy no matter what, but that's wishful thinking. Thank you so much for watching this video, please subscribe to what you saw here today, and have a wonderful rest of your day.