Prospect Info: Samuel Honzek (LW/C) Vancouver Giants (Drafted 16th overall 2023)

[Yepthatsme]

Very good pick by Conny. We are a surprise of the tournament so far. Looks like another great generation after 20 years when we had the likes of Hossa, Demitra, Bondra, Palffy, Gaborik, Chara, Svehla, Hadzus, Stumpel etc... Keep it up Slovakia- some great talents there.

Best part of this pick is this isn’t the player we are going to get. He is still so frail with his awkward skating stride. We drafted for what he has the potential to turn into. Him already looking great really could be a scary proposition for everybody else.

 

[joescores]

Honzek again on the PP!!!

 

[deleted user]

I'll be... Honzo isn't even up to full game speed with the time he's had off due to injury. Quite a nice thing to see him getting it done!

 

[joescores]

I'll be... Honzo isn't even up to full game speed with the time he's had off due to injury. Quite a nice thing to see him getting it done!

Yeah, also agree on his skating deficit with the poster above. If he improves that and gain some muscles, he could easily develop into a great powerforward- he has that natural agreessivnes in him. Up to him what he wants to be, the spectrum is huuuuuge.

 

[deleted user]

Let's go Honzek! Keep working hard.

 

[joescores]

He plays 3rd line, with an undrafted but talented Repcik and 2023 3rd rounder Pekarcik. Also plays on the 2nd PP, so a tougher job but ended up with 1+1!

Just keep drafting Slovaks and you can't go wrong (that correct #AdamRuzicka or you want to add anything ?).

PS: 2022 6th rounder Servac Petrovsky (Minny). Just WOW!

 

[Dack]

I don't know if he's just still getting his legs back under him from injury or what but I thought he was very disappointing at the WJC. Not outright bad but generally not that noticeable or involved.

 

[deleted user]

I don't know if he's just still getting his legs back under him from injury or what but I thought he was very disappointing at the WJC. Not outright bad but generally not that noticeable or involved.

Yeah, he had barely played due to injury.

 

[JPeeper]

I don't know if he's just still getting his legs back under him from injury or what but I thought he was very disappointing at the WJC. Not outright bad but generally not that noticeable or involved.

I only watched the game against Latvia, but he had a 2 on 1 chance, a breakaway, a goal, etc. he could easily of had a hat-trick. He wasn't a "play driver" though I will agree with that.

He seems like a guy who will be 2-3 years away minimum, needs time to build out his frame and learn to play with said frame, he looked way taller than 6'4", but that might have been because everyone else were just manlets.

He did absolutely destroy someone in the boards which got him a bullshit boarding penalty. I call it bs because the guy turned last minute and gave up his back, I don't think those plays should be penalties, the player is giving themselves up to get crushed, it's their own fault and they deserve to get crushed, this is still hitting hockey and players finish their checks.

 

[Khrox]

I don't know if he's just still getting his legs back under him from injury or what but I thought he was very disappointing at the WJC. Not outright bad but generally not that noticeable or involved.

3 goals (2 game winners), 4 points, +3, in 5 games, given before the WJC, he had a grand total of 5 games played this season (out of 36) thanks to injury. With that in mind, he did really damn well. If he was a full season in, no injury, and still only had 4 points in 5 games (it's Slovakia, while they are good, I don't think anyone had them pegged to go far this year) there might be something to look in to. But the team as a whole only scored 22 goals, and he was in on 4 of them (so like ~18% of them?) as a third liner for the team. That's not bad.

 

[Dack]

I only watched the game against Latvia, but he had a 2 on 1 chance, a breakaway, a goal, etc. he could easily of had a hat-trick. He wasn't a "play driver" though I will agree with that.

He seems like a guy who will be 2-3 years away minimum, needs time to build out his frame and learn to play with said frame, he looked way taller than 6'4", but that might have been because everyone else were just manlets.

He did absolutely destroy someone in the boards which got him a bullshit boarding penalty. I call it bs because the guy turned last minute and gave up his back, I don't think those plays should be penalties, the player is giving themselves up to get crushed, it's their own fault and they deserve to get crushed, this is still hitting hockey and players finish their checks.

He was better in the earlier games and I was hoping he was warming up for a memorable performance but those ended up being his best games. He did very little in the last 2 games against stronger opponents. Yeah the fact that he wasn't driving play was what dissapointed me I think. I wasn't expecting him to dominate the tourney but all of (and I might be spelling some of these names wrong) Mesar, Dvorsky, Repchuk and Petrovsky outperformed him handily IMO.

3 goals (2 game winners), 4 points, +3, in 5 games, given before the WJC, he had a grand total of 5 games played this season (out of 36) thanks to injury. With that in mind, he did really damn well. If he was a full season in, no injury, and still only had 4 points in 5 games (it's Slovakia, while they are good, I don't think anyone had them pegged to go far this year) there might be something to look in to. But the team as a whole only scored 22 goals, and he was in on 4 of them (so like ~18% of them?) as a third liner for the team. That's not bad.

Not really focusing on points here. I will say that 2 of his 3 goals were tap ins into empty nets. Gimme goals for anyone who has even decent positioning and size. His assist and third goal were nice but still neither wowed me.

When I say he was disappointing I more mean that he was unnoticeable for large stretches and just generally passive. I wanted to see him use his size and skating to create chances and dominate possession but he never really did. He seemed content to just play a low event, not particularly impactful game.

 

[Volica]

He seems like a guy who will be 2-3 years away minimum, needs time to build out his frame and learn to play with said frame, he looked way taller than 6'4", but that might have been because everyone else were just manlets.

Seems like the recipe for these massive guys nowadays.
Look a guy like Byfield who went from:

Dominant OHL
Not NHL Ready
Good AHL
Not NHL Ready
Fine AHL
Okay NHL
Great AHL
Stud NHL

As a big tall guy myself, and not remotely close to this level of athlete it takes a while. It takes longer to get bigger and stronger, to learn how to use your natural gifts to your advantage.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

In my ten or so viewings of him:

I think he will be a weapon on the PP. he’s got soft hands around the net. He likes to go stand in front of the goalie.

5 on 5 he’s been pretty poor. Slovakia’s coach put him with some mediocre players. Which was weird cause they had the depth to stack the top line.

Crazy good skater though for someone his size. He’s interesting but a project for sure.

 

[Fig]

In my ten or so viewings of him:

I think he will be a weapon on the PP. he’s got soft hands around the net. He likes to go stand in front of the goalie.

5 on 5 he’s been pretty poor. Slovakia’s coach put him with some mediocre players. Which was weird cause they had the depth to stack the top line.

Crazy good skater though for someone his size. He’s interesting but a project for sure.

Are you warming up to him? Or did you still think we should have gone with someone else?

Any thoughts on the original scouting reports vs what you're observing now? Similar? Evolution? etc.

 

[HighLifeMan]

Honzek has played in just 10 games since we drafted him. I really don't think any conclusions can be made at this point that we didn't already know.

He's a big, fast, lanky kid, that needs to fill out his frame and become more assertive on a shift to shift basis. Those things take time, but the upside is, and still remains immense.

 

[DFF]

The way Conroy talked about him at the draft make it a disappointment so far

He is no can’t miss prospect but he has not played much so there is time

 

[Bounces R Way]

Just wasn't a big fan of taking a project player midway through the 1st RD, especially that 2023 1st RD. He's also had two fairly major injuries now in the last two years. I dunno still lots of runway for the kid, and I do like that he's big and athletic, but nothing I've seen yet has suggested he's going to be a top line player.

Hopefully he can finish the rest of the year in Vancouver injury free and put some weight on. Assertive is definitely the keyword I'd want him to bring to his on-ice play. Think he's got the size, skill, and speed to be a Nichushkin type fwd if he wants to be which would be awesome.

 

[deleted user]

The confusing part is that the scouting reports described a player that he isn't. When you watch him playing, it's not that he's bad, not at all.. he's just not what was described. Not things being over hyped either, just flat out not how he seems to actually play.

That's definitely strange. I think Fig was the one to first mention it.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Are you warming up to him? Or did you still think we should have gone with someone else?

Any thoughts on the original scouting reports vs what you're observing now? Similar? Evolution? etc.

Umm i definitely preferred the two American guys, Moore, ASP and Perrault at the time. I thought one of them or Wood or Yager would be our pick. But obviously those other guys went above him. I don’t think anyone from that mid first is having a great start to the year though, except Perrault. I trust the Flames scouting staff. They know what they’re doing and we needed some size upfront on the wing.

Honestly didn’t pay much attention to the reports so I couldn’t say.

 

[Yepthatsme]

Anyone expecting anything other than a Tage Thompson development path is pretty much kidding himself (not the outcome but the timeline). His scouting report is 6’4” 185 pounds, that is downright frail and I agree with some other posters who say he looks like he is still growing. Been that kid before, when you’re growing as much as he is it’s impossible to pack on the muscle until the growing is done, and it’s hard to use your body effectively when it’s still changing dramatically. Tage Thompson never had a point per game season across any league in a season he played 10 or more games (not in the USHL, college, or the AHL), then at the tender age of 24 something clicked and he jumped from 14 points in 38 games with Buffalo to 68 in 78. Honzek realistically will add ~30 pounds give or take between now and his peak. Between the constant growing and rapid weight gain he’s gonna experience in the next 5 years, the player he is today will be NOTHING like the player he is then.

For the people wondering why we used the pick on a ‘project’, it’s much more of a relatively high floor boom bust pick. Honzek should not be able to skate as fast as he already does, with plenty more leg muscle to pack on and a janky stride to correct as he catches up to his growth. He should not be able to shoot the puck like he does with so much extra strength waiting to be packed on. He also shouldn’t be able to produce as much as he has before he gains all the natural advantages he will with added speed, strength, and weight. And for anyone who watched his WJC and came out less than thrilled, he shouldn’t be able to put up 3 goals in 5 games while playing 5 games before hand coming off a multiple month injury. Highest ceiling prospect we have had since Gaudreau/Tkachuk, whether he gets there or not is another question.

 

[Volica]

Sam Cosentino was on the Fan on the drive home last night and spoke about Honzek.

I trust Sam more than almost every other scout in the NHL, he's really spot on and knows prospect pools deeper than I think anyone else (he was the guy who was really high on guys like Mangi and Ras when people said Calgary had no prospect pool).

He said that he's probably a couple years away, that he sort of pegs him as a 5-6-7 forward, so not a star but an important contributor. Thinks he'll be an excellent specialty teams player on both sides because of his size. Needs to develop his game more and fill out. Thinks that the best path for him will be with the Wranglers and Flames next year under the organizations home banner (the watchful eye of Conroy and the group).

Even at that range, these are important players for organizations and in reality, we just don't know how he'll progress. Could he end up being a Valeri Nichushkin type? Where he's an excellent two-way player and then all of a sudden develops into a big point producer? Could he end up like Adam Ruzicka and never really put it all together? Could he end up like a JVR and be an offence first guy that never really learns how to play both ends? Could he just bust and be back in Slovakia in 4-5 years? Sure. All of these things are possible.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

Sam Cosentino was on the Fan on the drive home last night and spoke about Honzek.

I trust Sam more than almost every other scout in the NHL, he's really spot on and knows prospect pools deeper than I think anyone else (he was the guy who was really high on guys like Mangi and Ras when people said Calgary had no prospect pool).

He said that he's probably a couple years away, that he sort of pegs him as a 5-6-7 forward, so not a star but an important contributor. Thinks he'll be an excellent specialty teams player on both sides because of his size. Needs to develop his game more and fill out. Thinks that the best path for him will be with the Wranglers and Flames next year under the organizations home banner (the watchful eye of Conroy and the group).

Even at that range, these are important players for organizations and in reality, we just don't know how he'll progress. Could he end up being a Valeri Nichushkin type? Where he's an excellent two-way player and then all of a sudden develops into a big point producer? Could he end up like Adam Ruzicka and never really put it all together? Could he end up like a JVR and be an offence first guy that never really learns how to play both ends? Could he just bust and be back in Slovakia in 4-5 years? Sure. All of these things are possible.

I was wondering about where Honzek may play next year. While he's eligable for the AHL, do they put him back in WHL to have that dominant season? From what you just posted, sounds like they would rather have him closer to home and work on building strength.

 

[herashak]

Big Jank 2.0, at least he’s a shooter

 

[Iggys Dome]

Big Jank 2.0, at least he’s a shooter

I was gonna say, I’m getting Mark Jankowski vibes

Hopefully he develops better.

 

[Volica]

3 points in his return to the WHL from the juniors in one game.
He didn't look great at the WJC, but it maybe helped him get back into game shape. Expecting big things out of him in the second half of the season in the Dub.