The young defensemen clashed repeatedly during the season and now they are both considered elite draft picks in the 2024 draft.
The young defensemen clashed repeatedly during the season and now they are both considered elite draft picks in the 2024 draft.
The stuff of legend swirls around the clash between Sam Dickinson and Zayne Parekh this past season. Two young, elite defenders playing for teams that battled it out in the regular season, playoffs and Memorial Cup.
Dickinson and the London Knights defeated Parekh and the Saginaw Spirit in six games in the Western Conference Finals.
However, in their rematch at the Memorial Cup, it was Parekh who came away with the victory.
NHL Central Scouting ranks Parekh fifth amongst North American skaters while putting Dickinson two places back at seventh.
Depending on which pundit you listen to, the rankings are quite different.
The Hockey News' Tony Ferrari ranked Dickinson 10th in his ranking of the Top 100 Draft Prospects while Parekh sits at 14th.
Bob McKenzie ranks the two back-to-back with Dickinson 6th overall and Parekh 7th.
Part of the reason for the variation is that most draft analysts say that it is difficult to come up with a consensus ranking after Macklin Celebrini.
However, there are major differences between Dickinson and Parekh that would cause teams to value these two players differently based on team priorities.
Parekh may be the most offensively gifted defenseman in this year's draft. He has a powerful and accurate shot that makes him a scoring threat all over the offensive zone. When he possesses the puck, his creativity and above-average vision are next to none.
During his rookie campaign, Parekh scored 21 goals and set the record for most goals by an under-17 defender.
He followed up his impressive rookie campaign by leading all defensemen with 33 goals this past season.
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His goal scoring is just the tip of the iceberg. Parekh is a strong skater with great edges that allow him to outmaneuver his opponents.
His skating and shooting draw lots of attention from opponents, allowing him to exploit passing lanes and set up his teammates.
The downside? Parekh has lots of room to improve in the defensive department.
He will sometimes give up defensive positioning and end up reaching for pucks rather than taking the body. He relies on his stick skills and skating to strip opponents of the puck rather than positioning and physicality. At higher levels, he may not be able to get away with this kind of defending.
He has all of the ability to be an elite offensive talent in the NHL and some have said he could be the next Erik Karlsson if all goes well.
Dickinson is an entirely different cup of tea. While he doesn't have Parekh's exceptional offensive ability he has stronger defensive qualities and is no slouch offensively.
Dickinson is a physically gifted two-way defender who succeeds on defense and on offense. He mentioned at the NHL Draft Combine that he prides himself on being a complete defenseman.
He was the highest-scoring defenseman on the London Knights last season with 18 goals and 52 assists. No mean feat considering he was competing with the likes of Oliver Bonk.
Dickinson carries the puck extremely well and understands how to manipulate defenders. His skillset in transition is eerily similar to Dallas' franchise defenseman, Miro Heiskanen.
He is at his best offensively when he joins the rush and makes use of his teammates to create offensive chances.
Defensively, Dickinson uses his body effectively to get inside body-positioning on his man in his own end. The young defender showcased some of his best defensive ability during the Memorial Cup.
However, Dickinson can struggle under pressure and make questionable decisions when pushed outside of his comfort zone.
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Depending on how he develops, Dickinson has a wide range of possible outcomes. With his size and skating ability, he could be the next Alex Pietrangelo. However, the possibility exists that he could simply become a reliable bottom-four defender.
Both guys clearly have incredible upside. It remains to be seen which of them will be taken first in the draft. When asked at the draft combine if there would be any bragging rights to being the first OHL player selected in the draft, both were modest saying that wasn't something they were focused on. However, it is to be expected that it would be a very nice accolade to receive.
What is clear, is that after this season both defenders have tons of potential that will make them hot commodities come draft day.