The Calgary Flames will return to action at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night to host the Anaheim Ducks. But they’ll do so without one of their more promising young players: winger Sam Honzek.

Per Flames head coach Ryan Huska, Honzek is unavailable for Saturday night’s game, as he’s being evaluated for an injury – presumably suffered in Thursday’s game with Colorado.

Per Postmedia’s Danny Austin, Honzek was absent from Friday’s practice. Honzek was also not on the ice for Saturday’s optional morning skate. On Saturday, Huska was asked if there were any updates regarding Honzek’s status.

“No update,” said Huska. “He’s still being looked at. He will not be available for us tonight.”

Honzek had played in each of the Flames’ first four regular season games, playing a couple games with Mikael Backlund and Joel Farbabee and more recently with Ryan Strome and Martin Pospisil. He was also a fixture on the top penalty killing group, working as a forward pairing with Backlund to begin most kills.

When and how Honzek was injured against Colorado remains a bit of a mystery. Honzek’s ice time was consistent across all three periods, and he didn’t miss a shift for entire game. He logged 15:53 of ice time, slightly ahead of linemates Pospisil (14:46) and Strome (14:39), primarily due to playing so much on the penalty kill. (Their five-on-five usage was essentially even.)

Honzek was credited with four hits and a shot block. He was credited with receiving a hit from Nazem Kadri in the early part of the second period, but properly logging hits in a contact sport like hockey is incredibly tough for the scorers, so it’s hard to conclude that we have an exhaustive listing of Honzek’s contact with other players in that game.

A first-round pick by the Flames in the 2023 NHL Draft, Honzek has had rough injury luck since his draft year, missing time due to – deep breath, everyone – a skate cut, an abdominal injury, a facial injury, a concussion, a nagging lower body injury, and a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery last year. When he’s been healthy, he’s shown really well and carved out a role for himself as a reliable 200-foot forward.

Here’s hoping this is just a minor issue and Honzek can be back in the lineup in short order.