The Calgary Flames organization has a lot of young players to be excited about. Especially first-round draft picks like Zayne Parekh, Cole Reschny and Cullen Potter. Also in that conversation is Sam Honzek. Honzek has faced a bit of troubles with injuries over the last two seasons but still remains an exciting player who is developing at the AHL level so we see more of him at the NHL level.

Sam Honzek was a first round draft pick for the Calgary Flames back in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft where he went 16th overall. The 20 year old grew up in Slovakia and transitioned to North American hockey in his draft year with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. Last season, he made a three game appearance with the Calgary Wranglers at the end of the season. He played in two regular season games and one playoff game. 

2024-25 expectations

Sam Honzek wrapped up his junior hockey career with the Vancouver Giants in the 2023-24 season and was on a good track scoring-wise when he was healthy. He put up 31 points in 33 games that season. He was expected to start the year with the Wranglers and maybe start to transition to NHL games in the back half of the season. 

2024-25 results

All eyes were on Sam Honzek for his first good long look in the club. Unfortunately for him, an early season injury put a damper on that. Honzek exceeded expectations at Flames training camp and earned a roster spot with the Flames on opening night. After just five games in the NHL, Honzek was sidelined with an upper-body injury.

He took his time to recover and when he returned back to regular game action in early November, it was with the Wranglers. (He played one game with the Flames before being sent to the AHL.) Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get back to the level he was at during camp to be the go-to option for the next call-up. He took a bit of time to get back in the swing of things and did get some developmental opportunities at centre later in the season, but didn’t get to where he wanted to be with that injury setback.

Honzek did not return to the Flames for the remainder of the season and played alongside Wranglers captain Clark Bishop for most of the season. Their other winger rotated between Martin Frk and William Stromgren for stretches of games. While fans would’ve loved to see more of Honzek, giving him some time to recover and build confidence may pay off for the organization in the long term.