Any injury is frustrating, but this one feels especially cruel for Sam Honzek.
The 21-year-old Calgary Flames winger left Saturday night’s shootout loss to the Winnipeg Jets early after colliding with captain Mikael Backlund. It was immediately obvious that Honzek was in serious pain, and the Flames confirmed Sunday afternoon that he’ll be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
For a guy who had broken through at the NHL level and had been one of the few good news stories for the Flames this season, it’s a tough bit of news.
“Anybody that’s going to miss a little bit of time with an injury, you’re going to feel bad for them,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “He’s done a lot of great things for us and I think has a better understanding of what he has to be like to play in the NHL at a consistent level.
“We were really pleased with where his game was trending and we know he’s going to pick up right where he left off.”
Here are a few things to know about how the Flames will deal with the injury:
Leaving a hole
While Honzek played in five games for the Flames last year after a great 2024 training camp, this season has been his real breakthrough.
The Slovakian, who the Flames took 16th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, has established himself alongside Backlund and Blake Coleman on the team’s shutdown line and has emerged as one of their top penalty-killers, as well.
Calgary Flames forward Samuel Honzek celebrates his goal with teammate Mikael Backlund in October.
While his offensive numbers won’t blow anyone away – he’s scored twice and added two assists in 18 games – he’s done a great job focusing on the defensive details.
“Most of the young guys come in and they think they have to generate offence and it’s all about offence all the time and there isn’t really a great understanding of the risk that comes along with it,” Huska said. “I feel like Sam is a player who has some offensive abilities but when he makes a mistake that ends up in the back of the net, he doesn’t make those mistakes again. He’s got the riskside of things figured out and has a good understanding of how he has to play the game to be successful.”
Finding a fit
The Flames do have options for slotting someone in alongside Backlund and Coleman.
Connor Zary has spent time with the two veterans in the past and could benefit from being moved back to the wing and out of the fourth-line centre role he’s been playing recently.
Calgary Flames Connor Zary speaks to media at the Saddledome as the players prepare for the off season in Calgary in April.
Another option could potentially be Yegor Sharangovich, who has been a healthy-scratch for the past couple of games and has struggled to impact games in any meaningful way. Could giving him a role with substantial defensive responsibilities provide a badly-needed boost.
“We have some players who have been on the left side of those two guys before,” Huska said. “We’ll kind of make decisions over the course of the day … We have some players who are more than capable of playing there.”
There’s also the option of calling someone up from the Calgary Wranglers.
Due for a call up
There are a few intriguing options for the Flames who are having solid starts to the year in the AHL.
The name that will probably get brought up first among fans is Matvei Gridin, the 19-year-old who started the season with the Flames. He’s currently got five goals and eight assists through 13 games with the Wranglers and while nobody can doubt his offensive abilities, the Flames do want him working on other areas of his game so it’s possible they’ll want to keep him in the AHL for a little while longer.
Calgary Flames forward Matvei Gridin scores on Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck in first-period preseason NHL action in October.
Another intriguing option would be William Stromgren, the team’s second round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. He’s scored once and added 11 assists through 15 games while working on his defensive details. He’s taken a step forward with his game this year.
Calling up Sam Morton or Justin Kirkland would allow the Flames to slot either into the fourth-line centre role and move Zary to the wing, too, while Dryden Hunt is a guy who Huska is known to trust.