Zayne Parekh, Hunter Brzustewicz, and Sam Morton to make NHL debuts in Flames’ season finale
The Calgary Flames will welcome some of their top prospects to the lineup on Thursday night, as blueliners Zayne Parekh, Hunter Brzustewicz and left-wingers Sam Morton and Aydar Suniev get set to make their NHL debuts in the club’s season finale.
All are expected to play against the LA Kings, as the team closes a season that saw them narrowly miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs. To make room in the lineup, Jonathan Huberdeau, Martin Pospisil, Kevin Rooney, Rasmus Andersson, Jake Bean and Joel Hanley will sit, according to Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg.
Many eyes will be centred on Parekh, who established himself as one of the top players in the CHL, scoring 33 goals and 107 points in 61 games on the Saginaw Spirit blueline, while controversially being left off Canada’s roster for the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
The No. 9 overall pick from last year’s NHL Draft will wear No. 89 after an OHL campaign that saw him join Bobby Orr as the only OHL defensemen to score 30+ goals in multiple seasons.
Brzustewicz, who will wear No. 48, and had five goals and 31 points through 69 AHL games with the Calgary Wranglers this season, after being acquired in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks in 2023-24.
“Ever since they called me and let me know, smile can’t get off my face,” Brzustewicz, 20, said. “You dream of this as a little kid, you never think it would happen, and your first game you want to play in the NHL, but when you turn pro, it’s one of the things on your mind all the time.”
"Ever since they called me and let me know, smile can’t get off my face."
Hunter Brzustewicz checks in with the media ahead of his first NHL game tonight in LA. pic.twitter.com/EZ0rXLafeb
Like Brzustewicz, the 25-year-old Morton has been one of the more consistent players with the Wranglers in the 2024-25 season, scoring 20 goals and 45 points in 69 AHL games. Meanwhile, Suniev, 20, signed with the Flames on April 2, after wrapping up a 35-game sophomore season with the NCAA’s UMass-Amherst, scoring 20 goals and 38 points.
While the Kings will look to a first-round playoff series with the Edmonton Oilers after Thursday’s game, the Flames will eye the NHL Draft and Free Agency, with hopes of improving the team ahead of the 2025-26 season.