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Samuel Honzek’s pre-season has been a pleasant surprise and a showcase of his abilities when healthy
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Photo credit: ©Tav Morisson-Oilers Nation
Jeff Middleton
Oct 1, 2024, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 1, 2024, 00:09 EDT
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There’s always plenty of questions at this time of year about young players, who they’re going to be as they develop, and where they stand within the organization given their prior production at certain levels or in other training camps.
If there’s one player with the Calgary Flames who needed to have a strong rookie camp and pre-season, Samuel Honzek has had exactly that by most, if not all accounts.
The Flames’ 16th overall selection in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft in Nashville, Tennessee, didn’t exactly wow anyone with his performances last season. In 33 games with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants, where he posted 56 points in 43 games the year prior, he scored only 31 points in 33 games. In a season where improvement is typically the standard, he took a step back.
There were outside factors that influenced these issues, particularly the variety of injuries Honzek faced throughout the seasons. But, when your top prospect from the draft doesn’t perform as well as they should (and even with how unfair that kind of assessment might be for a 19-year-old kid), it causes people to worry.
However, since training camp opened up this off-season, Honzek has seemed to be a different player. And not only is it the fact that he’s healthy, but he looks more confident and is being deliberate with the plays he’s making. A player who has speed in his back pocket but isn’t exactly known for it has made some impressive plays using his legs.
Here’s a play that isn’t a goal, but Honzek gives his team the advantage with a fantastic burst of speed.
And here he gets behind the defender, makes a great hand-eye coordination play, and scores a goal.
Honzek is tied with two other players for points this pre-season with five. One of those players is his teammate, Matt Coronato, who has had another stellar pre-season showing, and the other is the young Dallas Stars forward Logan Stankoven. However, Stankoven has five points in four games, while Honzek has five points in three games, and Coronato has five in two.
Honzek is getting rewarded for his hard work, and the Flames are scoring goals because of him, even if he doesn’t get assists on the plays. The mentality that leads to this Brayden Pachal goal is what NHL head coaches want to see every game. Honzek flies into the zone, gets on the forecheck, and earns possession, giving his team the puck in the offensive zone and eventually resulting in a goal.
Currently, the players that end up with roster spots will be there because they earned it, and it’s hard to ignore what Honzek is doing right now against some fantastic players. It’s not likely that he will end up on the Flames roster. Instead, it feels more likely Honzek will be sent down to Calgary Wranglers in the American League to marinate there, hopefully produce well, and be ready for a call-up in case of an injury or to replace a player who isn’t cutting it.
After a struggle last season, it’s great to see a 19-year-old taking charge of his own destiny in front of the NHL coaching staff and management team. He has created plenty of offence for the Flames this pre-season, and with two games remaining, we’ll see what kind of impact he can make moving forward.

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