In a game that featured each of the Flames’ last six first-round picks, it was one of the more unlikely lads who shone the brightest.
But then, that’s what Sam Honzek has done throughout this pre-season.
In fact, with a third-period goal late in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Canucks in Abbotsford Wednesday, the 19-year-old Slovak prospect moved to the top of the NHL’s pre-season scoring ranks.
Driving to the net to redirect a nifty pass from fellow countryman Martin Pospisil, Honzek’s first of the pre-season gave him six points in three games.
Drafted 16th overall in 2023, the six-foot-four, 190-pound forward has rebounded from a forgettable, injury-filled season last year to be one of the biggest reasons the Flames have opened with a 3-0-1 record.
He’s using his body to drive to the net, create all sorts of offence and become one of the stars of every game he’s played in alongside some of the NHL’s best.
Not bad for a kid who only played 33 games as captain of the Vancouver Giants last season.
“He’s been very noticeable, and as a young guy that’s what you want to do,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska.
“Now all of a sudden he feels, ‘I can actually do things at this level I was able to do at another level.’
“He’s using his speed now, he’s taking pucks to the net, he’s trying to be first on the forecheck.
“We are very happy with what he’s done so far. A lot of great signs.”
One of his best plays of the night was a dandy cross-seam pass to Matvei Gridin that saw the fellow first-rounder robbed by Canucks netminder Jiri Patera.
While the Flames don’t have any obvious spots open up front for Honzek to snag coming out of camp, the kid who is almost certainly destined to start the season with the Wranglers is doing his part to push the issue.
He led all Flames with five shots on goal and, unlike last fall when he had an extremely quiet camp as an 18-year-old, he has been one of the team’s biggest stories.
As an FYI, the other five first-rounders in the game were Zayne Parekh (ninth, 2024), Gridin (28th, 2024), Matt Coronato (13th, 2021), Connor Zary (24th, 2020), and Jakob Pelletier (26th, 2019).
Coronato is also having a stellar camp, with three goals and two assists in three outings.
Pospisil experiment continues:
Huska got to see Martin Pospisil play centre for the first time live on Wednesday, as his successful opening game between Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Mantha was in Edmonton as part of a split-squad tilt Huska didn’t attend.
“I want to see if he can (play centre) without losing what makes him a really effective hockey player for us,” said the coach, who had Pospisil between Zary and Coronato Wednesday.
“We all know he’s got great speed, he’s in people’s faces all the time, he’s in first on forechecks, no one wants to play against him, but I want him to play that way as a centreman.”
Pospisil had a nice assist Wednesday but wasn’t the driving force he was most nights as the team’s biggest revelation last season.
He will undoubtedly get another shot to centre the Huberdeau line as early as Saturday against the Canucks, but the coach said he will also give Zary and Yegor Sharangovich some pre-season assignments up the middle as the organization is looking to make one of them a permanent centre.
Notes: Calgary native Andrew Basha got his first assist of the pre-season, making a slick pass to send Dryden Hunt in alone for a late go-ahead goal that gave Hunt two points on the night … Dustin Wolf had another solid start, allowing two goals over the first two periods, before giving way to Devin Cooley, who had very little chance on the overtime winner, let alone the tying goal in the dying seconds of the third … Jake Bean scored in the second period before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury.
The Lines:
Zary-Pospisil-Coronato
Pelletier-Morton-Duehr
Hunt-Schwindt-Basha
Honzek-Kirkland-Gridin
Bean-Barrie
Tinordi-Poirier
Solovyov-Parekh
Wolf
Cooley