Craig Conroy’s overhaul of the Calgary Flames’ prospect pool has already started to pay off, and Sam Honzek is one of the clearest examples of that work.
The 21-year-old Slovak winger sits tied at No. 4 in FlamesNation’s 2026 summer prospect rankings, and while he may not project as a franchise-driving star, he looks increasingly like the kind of player Calgary can build around in the middle of its lineup. Big, fast and capable of moving play the right way, Honzek has the tools to settle in as a useful top-nine forward for a long time.
Honzek, a first-round pick by Calgary at 16th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, was born Nov. 12, 2004 in Trencin, Slovakia. He stands 6’4″ and weighs 186 pounds, and he shoots left.
There was a real sense that 2025-26 could be the season he took a major step forward. He made the Flames out of camp for the second straight year and stayed with the club for the first 18 games, where he clicked well on a line with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman.
Honzek scored his first NHL goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 28, then began showing more of the two-way game that has long made him intriguing. Calgary even trusted him on the penalty kill and in 6-on-5 situations.
For a player in such a brief stretch, the underlying numbers were eye-catching. Honzek posted an on-ice expected goal share north of 60 percent during his time in October and November, a remarkable number given where the Flames wound up in the standings.
Then the season stopped cold. Honzek collided awkwardly with Backlund midway through a game against the Winnipeg Jets at the Saddledome on Nov. 15, and the injury ended up requiring surgery to address an upper-body issue. He missed the rest of the 2025-26 season.
That kind of setback has been a recurring theme. Honzek has dealt with major injury interruptions over the past four years, starting with his WHL run with the Vancouver Giants, where he appeared in only 76 games across two seasons but still managed 33 goals and 87 points.
He then opened the 2024-25 season with the Flames, played his first four NHL games without incident, and was hurt again in his fifth. Once healthy, he joined the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers and put up eight goals and 21 points in 52 games as a 20-year-old rookie pro.
Even when the scoring didn’t jump off the page, the impact was there. FlamesNation managing editor Ryan Pike summed it up this way:
Poor Samuel Honzek might hold the franchise record for unfortunate injury luck, from a skate cut at the World Juniors in his draft year to getting accidentally taken out by Mikael Backlund last season. When he’s been healthy, his game has taken big strides, particularly with his attention to detail away from the puck.
If he can play a full season, or close to one, there’s a pretty strong chance he can cement himself as an NHL regular. The tools are all there.
Looking ahead to 2026-27, Calgary may have a lineup opening that fits Honzek perfectly. The Flames traded Blake Coleman to the Minnesota Wild in early July, and Honzek appears positioned to step into that space beside Backlund. If that’s how it plays out, he should get more room to create at even strength and more chances on special teams than he saw last season.
Honzek averaged a little over 12 minutes per game with Calgary in 2025-26, but that number could climb quite a bit if he sticks. Backlund has played with plenty of wingers over the years, though few have brought Honzek’s mix of size and speed. His early NHL stint showed he can help drive puck possession and shot share even when the points aren’t piling up, and that kind of value matters.
He may never be a pure finisher, but he doesn’t need to be one to become a valuable secondary scorer and a hard-working checker who can move up and down the lineup. There’s also room for the Flames to experiment. A look alongside fellow first-round pick Matvei Gridin would be an interesting option, with Gridin handling more of the offense and Honzek doing the heavy lifting to help get him the puck.
For now, the door is open. Calgary’s lineup is still being written in pencil, and Honzek has a real chance to force his way into a permanent role.
He has already shown he belongs at the NHL level. The next step is making it impossible to take him out of the picture.
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For the Flames, the delay fits a broader approach that has emphasized salary-cap discipline and patient player development. Comparable contracts around the league can shape these talks, and Othmanns side likely wants a deal that reflects both his upside and his path forward, while Calgary is clearly being careful about the terms it commits to as the roster takes shape. [Read more 🡒]