If you would have told me during the summer that Sam Honzek would have made the Flames out of training camp, I would have thought you were insane and probably should be off to Arkham Asylum because there was no way he was going to make the team.
Well, here we are one game into the 2024-25 season, and Honzek made the team and skated on the team’s top line with Nazem Kadri and Andrei Kuzmenko. It has certainly been a wild turn of events for the Flames first rounder in 2023. So, in saying all of that, let’s have a chat about the 19-year-old shall we.
How did Honzek make the team?
Back in September at the prospects tournament in Penticton, Honzek did not stand out, he seemed to have been passed by multiple players that were drafted in this year’s draft and he was an afterthought heading into training camp. You can even go back to his season last year with the Vancouver Giants where he did not dominate, when he should have. Those performances and showings from Honzek had a lot of us worried that the Flames made a huge mistake in drafting him.
Well, fast forward to training camp and Honzek was a standout from day one. Every game he played he was more and more noticeable, he outplayed a number of players that were expected to be further along than Honzek was, and he stuck around in camp until the very end, making the Flames decision of what to do with him just that much harder. An injury to Yegor Sharangovich and being right up at the top for leading scorers in the pre-season opened up the door for Honzek, and the last spot was his. He played his heart out, made a number of fantastic plays, and stood out when he needed to in many different situations, he earned his spot in the lineup.
How long will Honzek stick around for?
Now that Honzek has made the team, the next question will be how many NHL games will he get. As I mentioned above, Sharangovich is nursing an injury, but it is believed to be relatively short-term. So, is Honzek a temporary placeholder until Sharangovich returns? Most likely that is going to be the case and the Flames are rewarding Honzek for his strong play in the pre-season.
However, if Honzek can impress when the games are for real, he once again can make the Flames decision to send him to the AHL very difficult. If he puts up points and can prove he belongs, well you cannot justify sending him down. Will he do that? Only time will tell, and if he doesn’t do that, it is perfectly ok, none of us actually expected him to be here as there is good amount of us that already had him written off.
It is a massive win for the Flames that Honzek has been able to take this step, it is massive for his confidence even if it is for a short period. The hope is he can take this for the rest of the year and have a dominant season regardless of where he plays.
This is huge, for everyone involved
This is huge, absolutely massive for everyone involved with Honzek being here right now. Management can breathe a sigh of relief (for the time being) that Honzek is what they thought he is when they drafted him, the fanbase can see a prospect take massive strides in the right direction, and it is very positive for Honzek who now knows he can hang in the pros.
Regardless of where the season goes for the player, we can start to trend in a more positive direction, we know he will come in next year and absolutely be a full-time Flame, maybe he does that this year. It really doesn’t matter, it just feels great knowing that Honzek is proving us all wrong, it is something we really love to see.
