Injury Updates: Honzek, van Riemsdyk, Brazeau

The Calgary Flames announced today that forward Samuel Honzek has suffered a lower-body injury and will be sidelined on a week-to-week basis. Honzek had not skated since the team’s Thursday loss to the Colorado Avalanche, missing Calgary’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. Now, he’ll miss quite a bit more time as he works his way back from an injury. Before his injury, Honzek occupied a role on the Flames’ third line, skating on the left wing alongside Martin Pospisil and Ryan Strome. Calgary has since replaced Honzek’s spot on that line with Matvei Gridin.

Honzek, 21, is one of the Flames’ top prospects but has struggled to stay healthy over the last year. Last November, Honzek underwent surgery to address an upper-body injury, and he ended up missing the rest of the campaign. He got into just 18 games, scoring four points. Honzek is still waiting on his first point of 2026-27, but was at least receiving steady minutes from head coach Ryan Huska. Earlier this year, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic rated Honzek as the No. 7 prospect in the Flames’ system, calling him someone who “should become a well-rounded 30-40 point forward” in the NHL. For him to reach his potential, though, he’ll still need to develop further – and this new injury serves as another interruption to his ability to do so.

Other injury notes from around the NHL:

• Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Muse told the media today, including Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, that injured defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury. He missed practice today and is not expected to travel for the early portion of the team’s upcoming four-game road trip. The veteran blueliner has been a key defensive specialist for the Penguins early in the year, leading the team in short-handed time on ice per game.
• Muse also told the media that injured forward Justin Brazeau will not travel with the team for its road trip as he works his way back from a lower-body injury. Brazeau suffered the injury in the preseason process and has yet to make his 2026-27 debut. The 28-year-old did skate on his own today, but a return is not seen as imminent. Brazeau was one of the Penguins’ major pro scouting success stories last year, as he scored a career-high 17 goals and 34 points and rewarded the club for the two-year, $1.5MM AAV bet they placed on him in free agency.