The Calgary Flames announced today they’ve signed forward Samuel Honzek, their first-round pick in last month’s 2023 NHL Draft. It’s a standard three-year, entry-level contract, and FlamesNation’s Ryan Pike reports it carries an average annual value of $950K. Selected 16th overall by the Flames, Honzek is the tenth 2023 first-round talent to sign his entry-level deal.
Calgary selected the 18-year-old Slovak forward out of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. Able to play both wing and center, Honzek leveraged his massive 6-foot-4 frame to register 23 goals and 56 points in 43 games for the Giants during an injury-shortened campaign. He may have gone earlier than some expected, but it’s hard to be too angry about the pick value Calgary got with Honzek in the mid-teens.
Honzek headlined a quietly intriguing 2023 draft class for the Flames, who also nabbed Canadian defenseman Étienne Morin in the second round and high-scoring Russian winger Aydar Suniev in the third. The intelligent and all-around smooth-skating Honzek is the prize of their class, though, and he ranks as the organization’s fourth-best forward in the pipeline, according to DobberProspects.
Calgary will likely return Honzek to junior hockey next season, which will slide his entry-level contract back a year to 2024-25. Given Honzek was 18 at the time of signing his ELC, Calgary is allowed to execute this maneuver twice. If he’s not ready for full-time NHL play in 2024 either, the Flames could delay the start of Honzek’s deal to 2025-26, keeping him under contract for a six-figure cap hit as far along as 2028.