Sam Honzek shook off the rust in his Wranglers return

As the Calgary Flames hit the ice for Saturday night’s game in Los Angeles, their American Hockey League affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers, were already in action a state over in Nevada as they faced the Henderson Silver Knights.

The Wranglers lost a tight game by a 3-2 score, but the game was fairly noteworthy for being the first AHL appearance in awhile for 2023 first-round pick Sam Honzek.

The first player drafted by Craig Conroy as general manager, Honzek has been equal parts promising and beset by injuries as a professional. He’s missed a few weeks (at least) due to injury in every season dating back to his draft year of 2022-23, but despite all that he’s managed to work his way towards a consistent NHL role as a two-way winger.

He was hurt back on Oct. 8 against the Colorado Avalanche, suffering a lower body injury, and he was sent to the AHL by the Flames earlier this week. Saturday’s game was his first AHL action in 18 months and first game of any type in about five weeks.

So how did Honzek look? Well, he was fine. He had zero points, but he wasn’t on for any goals for either team, and he registered two shots and drew a pair of third period penalties.

True to Wranglers head coach Brett Sutter’s discussion with QR Calgary’s Pat Steinberg on Friday’s Flames Now, the Wranglers played Honzek a ton – there didn’t appear to be any guardrails on how much he could play. Honzek was on the first line at five-on-five with Ben Jones and Luke Philp. Those are two of the most reliable linemates on the Wranglers roster, both of which can take face-offs. They were definitely trying to set Honzek up for success.

Honzek also played on both sides of special teams. He was on the second power play unit with Alex Nylander, Tyson Gross, Andrew Basha and Mike Benning. He was paired with Gross on the first penalty kill unit as well.

He looked a little tentative and rusty in the first period, but more in the sense that it looked like he was trying to figure out systems and details rather than him doing anything wrong. Things seemed to click for him starting in the second period, and from then on he seemed quite noticeable and effective. He was good on the forecheck, and battled and moved pucks well. The two penalties he drew in the offensive zone in the third period were caused by him moving his feet and basically forcing Henderson defenders to foul him to prevent scoring chances.

All-in-all, Honzek wasn’t spectacular against Henderson by any means, but he definitely didn’t struggle, and there’s reasons for optimism going forward based on how his first game went.

The Wranglers return to action at home on Tuesday night when they host Coachella Valley.

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