Flames’ Sam Honzek out week-to-week with lower-body injury

The Calgary Flames will be without one of their key young forwards for a while, as the team announced Monday that Sam Honzek is out on a week-to-week basis with a lower-body injury.

Honzek, the Flames’ first round selection at No. 16 overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut two seasons ago and had been held without a point over his four appearances to start this year before suffering the injury.

Honzek had missed the Flames’ most recent game against Anaheim and was not on the ice for subsequent practices prior to this update.

A six-foot-four native of Slovakia, Honzek notched four points, two goals and two assists, in 18 games last year in his first extended look at the NHL level. An important figure in Calgary’s rebuild, Honzek’s season was cut short by an injury he suffered last November.

Honzek then easily made the NHL roster out of training camp this year, in what is set up to be a crucial year in his development as he looks to cement himself as a core piece for the Flames moving forward.

While it was clear heading into the year that it would be a long season in Calgary for the rebuilding Flames, the results early on in the season are reflective of a franchise that is far, far away from being competitive.

The Flames are one of three teams without a win as the season hits the two-week marker, joining the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers. Calgary’s goal differential through its five losses sits at minus-19, comfortably the worst in the West and better than only the Flyers leaguewide.

The Flames will be back in action, sans Honzek, from Orange County in California on Tuesday night as they wrap up the second half of a back-to-back set against the Anaheim Ducks.