Minnesota Wild 2024 NHL Draft Target: Terik Parascak

Continuing the Minnesota Wild 2024 NHL Draft Target series with Prince George Cougars forward Terik Parascak.

Continuing the Minnesota Wild 2024 NHL Draft Target series, today we look at Prince George Cougars forward Terik Parascak. 

Lets change gears a bit and talk about a forward. We have started this series with three straight defensemen. Although there are a lot of good defenders in this draft, we will talk about one or two more later on. 

Today, it's all about Riley Heidt's teammate. 

Using Byron Bader's model on Hockey prospecting like we have been doing this whole series we can see that Parascak has a similar NHLer Probabilities to Heidt, whom the Wild drafted with the 64th overall pick in last year's draft. 

Guys fall all the time in the draft. Heidt was projected first-round pick by many publications but instead was taken in the later parts of the second round. After the season Heidt had for the Prince George Cougars this year, I'm sure a lot of NHL teams wish they would've taken him.

In Parascak's first full season in the WHL, the rookie has taken the league by storm. The 5-foot-11 forward had 43 goals and 105 points in 68 games during the regular season.

He was a fourth-round pick in the WHL Bantam Draft by Prince George after playing at Edge School. Now, in his first full season, Parascak finished tied for seventh in goals and eighth in points with 105. 

Parascak is pretty good without the puck. He finds seams and usually ends up in the right spot all the time. His awareness in the offensive zone allowed him to rack up as many goals and points as he did because he knew where to position himself. 

Terik has a good shot and is a pretty good skater. His release, specifically on one-timers, is also high-level. He is a skilled passer and playmaker but he also can shoot the puck and generate offense for himself despite playing with the WHL's leading goal scorer Zac Funk. 

As you can see in the image above, Parascak has a draft comparable to Nick Suzuki and isn't far behind in his NHLer Probabilities. 

Most high-end prospects in the Canadian Hockey League usually have a season in the WHL or the OHL already under their belt before they enter their draft year. This wasn't the case for Parascak. 

Yet he started his first season in the WHL by scoring 12 goals on 50 shots in the first ten games with 19 points for Prince George. This might've come as a surprise to many but to the Cougars it didn't. Parascak broke the CSSHL All-Time record for most career goals before he came over. He passed Connor Bedard by nine and finished his career with 119. 

His 217 career regular season points sit second most all time, behind Buffalo Sabres 2023 first-round NHL Draft pick Matthew Savoie. 

He is an interesting prospect for sure and one that probably won't be taken in the top 20 but he very well could fall to the second round in which the Wild should consider jumping on.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ79CLAs1Rg[/embed]