Folks, it’s international roster season in the hockey world. In recent weeks we’ve gotten roster announcements for the annual World Junior Championships and the inaugural edition of the 4 Nations Face-Off. With the 4 Nations Face-Off serving as a precursor to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, naturally thoughts begin to draft towards that event.

One country that’s headed to the Olympics after qualifying over the summer is Slovakia, with Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil serving as a key part of their qualification tournament victory and establishing himself as a roster lock for 2026 in the process.

But what about his countryman – and current Calgary Wranglers forward – Sam Honzek? What are his chances at making Slovakia’s national team for the 2026 Games?

For some clues, let’s look at the past and the present.

For the past, we look first to Slovakia’s Olympic qualifying roster from the summer:

Odds are that Slovakia’s national team will feel some loyalty to the guys that got them to the Olympics. However, it’s incredibly unlikely that their roster will be unchanged 14 months from now. Their older players will be 14 months older, and those guys seem like the most likely to get bumped out for new faces. So we’d suspect that Honzek could bump out one of the four forwards in their 30s.

Slovak hockey is experiencing a renaissance of sorts right now, with several youngsters featuring prominently in recent NHL Drafts and the country captured bronze at the 2022 Olympics. In his first year of pro, Honzek emerged as (so far) one of just seven Slovaks to play games in the NHL this season – along with Pospisil, Tatar, Nemec and three players that didn’t appear at the Olympic qualifiers, Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky, Tampa’s Erik Cernak and Washington’s Martin Fehervary. Honzek’s in good company, and it’s helpful that there’s only one other young NHL forward (Slafkovsky) from Slovakia that might be looking to displace a veteran from the Olympic roster.

Another good sign is Honzek’s extensive list of recent international appearances:

The Slovak Ice Hockey Federation obviously has Honzek’s number. There are no guarantees in life, but history is on Honzek’s side and his performances will have him on the national team’s radar.

The Flames’ first-round pick in 2023, Honzek made his NHL debut in October and played five games with the Flames. Since being assigned to the Wranglers he’s established himself as a really versatile young player, seeing time in every game situation, and posting a goal and five assists for six points through 13 games. He turned 20 on Nov. 12.