Sam Honzek, the best breakout story for the Calgary Flames this fall, is likely finished for the season.
Flames coach Ryan Huska revealed after Friday’s practice at the Saddledome that Honzek had surgery this week to repair the damage done on a freak collision with one of his own teammates.
The 21-year-old left-winger will be on the shelf for “up to six months.” Barring a miracle turnaround by the last-place Flames, that means his 2025-26 campaign is done.
It also means Honzek will miss out on an opportunity to represent Slovakia at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He would have been a shoo-in for a roster spot.
With that in mind, Honzek must have wrestled with his options before deciding it would be detrimental to postpone the surgery and try to play through the pain.
“I think he thought about us, as well, and not just about him,” Huska said. “Which is something I’m pretty proud of him for.”
Honzek should be pretty proud of what he showed and accomplishe with the Flames this fall.
While he recorded only two goals and four points in 18 outings, those numbers don’t tell the full story.
This power-forward-in-progress had, over the past month and a half, clearly established himself as an NHL regular. In fact, he was so effective alongside Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman that many are now convinced he can be the future focal point of the Flames’ shutdown line.
There’s no good way to suffer an injury of any severity, but this one is especially hard to swallow.
Honzek was hurt last Saturday, in the same week as his 21st birthday, when he and Backlund slammed into one another in the neutral zone. Calgary’s captain was carrying the puck toward the offensive blue-line, and his rookie linemate appeared to be trying to stay onside.
“I saw (Honzek) after the game and he was pretty down, as you would expect, at that time,” said Huska, who declined to share details about what has only been described as an upper-body injury. “But now, it’s just, ‘Hey, now that this is done, you’re going to be stronger and better than ever. So we’ll look forward to getting you back.’
“He seemed really upbeat about it as well.”
Honzek, a first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, has had some rotten injury luck in the early stages of his career.
He had some momentum going last fall, too, but needed a couple of weeks off after being rocked in what was only his fourth big-league appearance.
Although that wasn’t a lengthy absence, he struggled after being cleared to return and was soon assigned to the minors for further seasoning.
“I think when you look at him even last year, he learned a lot when he came back from his concussion,” Huska said of Honzek, who showed up for training camp this fall with 15 pounds of muscle added to his 6-foot-4 frame. “He realized, ‘I have to do a lot to make myself bigger, stronger, so I can handle the players that are at the NHL level.’
“I think he’s in a different space now because of the maturity that I’ve seen change over the course of the year where I think this is just going to catapult him to another level, because he’s going to be bigger and stronger again when he comes back. His speed is not going to change.
“And I really do feel now that he 100 per cent believes he’s an NHL player. He knows the role that he is going to be playing. He knows how he needs to play every night. So I think he’s going to come back and be just fine, once of course he gets the rust off.”
There could be significant changes to the Flames’ roster between now and then, but Honzek has shown that he should factor in every conversation about future building blocks.
He’ll still be hanging around the Saddledome for the remainder of the season, rehabbing under the watchful eye of the Flames’ medical staff and strength coaches.
“The size and speed that he has is what every team wants,” Huska said. “Now, it’s always about coming back and proving your worth. There’s no question about that. We expect him to push like he did this year for us, when he got into our lineup.
“But I think he has the tools and I think his maturity now has changed to the point where I do believe he’s an NHL player.”
ICE CHIPS: The Flames are hosting their annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night as they welcome the Dallas Stars for Saturday’s matchup at the Saddledome. The starting lineup will honour six brave youngsters from Kids Cancer Care’s PEER Program, and special lavender jerseys — each autographed by a player — will be auctioned off to support that same charity.
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