Craig Conroy has certainly received his fair share of plaudits for the work he’s done to restock the Calgary Flames’ cupboards over the past three years.

Of course, Conroy only took over from Brad Treliving just over a month before his first draft as general manager, so he didn’t have as much of an opportunity to influence the team’s list or pick stockpile in 2023. But he still managed to extract a couple of significant pieces who continue to feature prominently in the organization’s prospect hierarchy.

We’ve already covered Aydar Suniev, who came in at No. 8 on our list after scoring 16 goals as an AHL rookie in 2025-26. Now, as we arrive at the second tie in our rankings, it’s time to give Sam Honzek his due. He may not be a franchise cornerstone in the making, but the Slovak winger looks every bit like a potential mainstay in Calgary’s middle six as a fast and big-bodied play-driver.

It really looked like the 2025-26 season might’ve been Honzek’s breakout year.

After making the Flames out of camp for the second consecutive fall, Honzek skated in 18 games with the club out of the gate and looked like a great fit on a line with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman. He scored his first NHL goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 28 and started to show genuine flashes of two-way brilliance in the games that followed, earning deployment on the penalty kill and in 6-on-5 situations. Given where the Flames ended up in the standings, it’s genuinely unfathomable that Honzek managed an on-ice expected goal share north of 60 percent— yes, sixty! — over his all-too-brief stint in October and November.

But, as has been the case frustratingly often since the Flames drafted him in 2023, Honzek’s season came to a premature end after he collided awkwardly with Backlund midway through a game against the Winnipeg Jets at the Saddledome on Nov. 15. It was a complete fluke. Ultimately, Honzek required surgery to address an upper-body injury and missed the rest of the 2025-26 campaign.

Honzek has consistently missed significant time due to injuries over the past four years. He skated in just 76 games across his two seasons with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, collecting 33 goals and 87 points — probably a far cry from what he would’ve produced had he managed to stay healthy. Then, after appearing in his first four NHL games with the Flames to start the 2024-25 season without incident, Honzek was injured again in his fifth contest and subsequently joined the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers once healthy. He scored eight goals and 21 points in 52 games as a first-year pro with the Wranglers at age 20, but his impact consistently extended beyond the score sheet.

Here’s how FlamesNation managing editor Ryan Pike described Honzek’s trajectory to date with the Flames:

After trading Coleman to the Minnesota Wild in early July, the Flames have a hole in their lineup that is seemingly tailor-made for Honzek. Barring anything unforeseen, he should start the 2026-27 campaign in his familiar spot next to Backlund, but likely with considerably more leeway to make an impact at 5-on-5 and on special teams. Honzek averaged just over 12 minutes per game with the Flames in 2025-26, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see that number go way up in 2026-27.

Backlund has played with a wide range of wingers during his long and impressive Flames tenure, but very few have boasted the same combination of size and speed as Honzek. He positively influenced puck possession and shot share in the early stages of last season to a genuinely impressive extent, even if his raw production didn’t necessarily match. Honzek may never be a natural finisher, but that doesn’t mean he can’t become a highly useful secondary scorer and checker who can move up and down the lineup.

Expect to see a lot of the Honzek-Backlund connection in 2026-27, but that doesn’t necessarily preclude the 21-year-old from also getting looks alongside other players. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what Honzek could do on a line with fellow first-round pick Matvei Gridin, who could shoulder much of the offensive load while his more physical linemate does the yeoman’s work to get him the puck? With the Flames’ lineup still very much written in pencil, the possibilities for Honzek are virtually endless. He’s already shown he can hold his own in the NHL, but this year will be his biggest opportunity yet to make himself undeniable.

Chechelev/Benning/Littler/Lipinski [HM] | Misa/Matveiko/Leander [HM] | Lane/Laylin/Katolicky [HM] | Hurtig [HM] | Iginla [HM] | Kerins [HM] | Wiebe [HM] | Hoskin [HM] | Yegorov [HM] | Stromgren [HM] | Barabanov [HM] | Curran [20] | Sergeev [T18] | Jamieson [T18] | Zarubin [17] | Shaikhlislamov [16] | Phillips [15] | Castagna [14] | Gross [13] | Harrington [12] | Basha [11] | Stockselius [10] | Trejbal [9] | Suniev [8] | Mews [7] | Hextall [6]

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