Left winger pegged to provide scoring in a big role
A long-term need of the Calgary Flames has been a first- or second-line winger with size and skill. They had one but Matthew Tkachuk was traded when he decided he no longer wanted to be in the long-term plans.
The Flames have high hopes Samuel Honzek fits that bill after selecting him 16th overall at the NHL draft Wednesday in Nashville.
Honzek, the left winger from Slovakia who is closing in on 6-foot-4, and collected 23 goals and 56 points in 43 games with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, has high hopes for himself.
When asked to compare himself to a NHL player, he opted to name someone from north of Calgary.
“Maybe it sounds a little bit odd, but Leon Draisaitl, a big guy really good at protecting the puck,” Honzek told reporters in Nashville, knowing full well Flames fans are not fans of Edmonton Oilers skaters. “He can use his body really well and has really good vision and his hockey IQ is really impressive. I have still a really long journey to be like him, but I have size to do it and I just need to be focused and work hard.”
Honzek, who was ranked ninth among North American skaters by the league’s Central Scouting Bureau, finished third among WHL rookies despite missing 25 games due to injury, mainly during a six-week hiatus after suffering a skate cut in the second game at the world juniors.
He believes he can be an impact player at both ends of the rink.
“I’m a player who will do whatever a coach will tell him,” he said. “I will accept my role and do whatever is good for the team. My shot is really good and I can expose NHL goalies, I think. There’s still lots of things I need to work on, but I wanna be one day there.”
Honzek also knows he must improve his conditioning and skating, a common situation for teenagers growing into their body.
“I’m working on it. I think I can say I will come to development camp as a really prepared player,” he said.
Certainly he has shown the ability to adjust in his first season in North America.
“I felt closer to the NHL than when I came to the Vancouver Giants,” he said before noting the adjustments needed. “Smaller rink and a little bit of the details. You have to know what you’re going to do with the puck before you get it. A lot of coaches worked with me on details, awareness in the defensive zone and to play hard and fast.”