There are seven forwards from Czechia playing an every-night role in the NHL this season.
Only six will represent their country at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Adam Klapka, a fixture on the Calgary Flames’ fourth line, was a surprise omission Tuesday as the Czechs revealed their picks.
This will be a major disappointment for the 25-year-old tower.
Klapka, who skated in the world championship tournament last spring, scored his fourth goal of the season during Monday’s 5-1 home loss to the Seattle Kraken. While he has managed only nine points in 41 games in the 2025-26 campaign, he ranks among the league leaders with 148 hits.
Czechia’s roster for Milano-Cortina is headlined by David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins and Martin Necas of the Colorado Avalanche, and also includes seven forwards who currently play in various pro leagues in Europe. Most of those guys do have previous NHL experience.
According to journalist Matej Hejda, head coach Radim Rulik explained that the 6-foot-8 Klapka ultimately was overlooked because he isn’t an option on special teams. He briefly auditioned in December as a net-front presence on the Flames’ power play, although that experiment did not last long.
“We need players who play PP or PK,” Rulik said, according to Hejda. “Unfortunately, he doesn’t play either of those for the Flames. He only plays five-on-five. If he played shorthanded with his large frame, he would be in the lineup.”
While Klapka wasn’t going to challenge Pastrnak or Necas — both fellow right-shots, by the way — for go-to guy status on the man advantage, he told Postmedia recently that he believed for could fill a specific role for his national team.
“For that fourth-line right wing, I think so,” Klapka replied when asked about his case for a trip to the 2026 Winter Games. “That’s my role here and I think I can do a pretty good job, I would say, in the Olympics as well because I’m used to playing against these guys. For me, I think that’s probably the biggest thing. It’s going to be an almost-NHL-sized rink. It’s going to be NHL rules. So I feel like I would be good in that spot.
“But it doesn’t depend on me. It depends on other people. I just want to do my best to keep digging, keep eyes on me.”
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There are currently only two Flames on 2026 Olympic rosters — Rasmus Andersson for Sweden and Martin Pospisil for Slovakia. Pospisil’s participation is hardly a sure thing, since he has yet to suit up this season due to injury.
It’s reasonable to think that Klapka is on Czechia’s standby list, just like Mikael Backlund is for the Swedes and MacKenzie Weegar is for Team Canada.
The Flames, having suffered back-to-back regulation losses for the first time in nearly two months, will open a five-game road-trip Wednesday in Montreal. As they packed up their gear, they were adamant about improving their record in enemy rinks — they’re a miserable 6-13-2 in their away dates.
After clashing with the Canadiens, the Flames will continue on to Boston, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Chicago.
“You have to establish an identity at home, but that shouldn’t change when you’re on the road,” stressed Flames skipper Ryan Huska, whose squad dropped to two games below .500 with Monday’s loss to the Kraken at the Saddledome. “We haven’t been at the level that we need to be at, in regards to winning games on the road. This would be a great trip for us to do that.”
The Nashville Predators’ Nicolas Hague, left, fights with the Calgary Flames’ John Beecher during second-period NHL action in Calgary on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026.
Beecher out week-to-week
While John Beecher has now served his one-game suspension, the 24-year-old pivot won’t be immediately returning to the Flames’ lineup.
The club announced Tuesday that Beecher is out week-to-week due to an upper-body injury he sustained in Saturday’s scrap with Nicolas Hague of the Nashville Predators.
Justin Kirkland is the obvious candidate to fill Beecher’s usual role as fourth-line centre, although Huska could shuffle his forward deck to find a spot for winger William Stromgren, freshly called up from the AHL’s Wranglers.
Beecher will be stashed on injured reserve, which opens up a roster spot for world junior standout Zayne Parekh as the 19-year-old defenceman returns from a record-setting tournament performance.