PENTICTON, British Columbia -- Craig Conroy previously saw Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan, then prospects just three months removed from being selected in the first round of the NHL Draft, bulldog their way onto the Calgary Flames roster.
The Flames general manager doesn't necessarily expect that out of Samuel Honzek, Calgary's latest first-round pick, but the message remains the same.
Show you belong.
"It's funny," Conroy told NHL.com from the Young Stars Classic this week. "At this exact same tournament Matthew Tkachuk asked, 'How did Sean Monahan make the team?' I said, 'He played so well we couldn't send him back.' Brian Burke wanted to send Monahan back but he continued to play well and played well into the real games and he just made the team. I said to take it out of our hands by playing so well.
“That's the message. We're not going to give it to you. You have to earn it and have to want it. I know they're young guys, but Matthew showed he could do it and Monahan was able to do the same thing.”
The same opportunity awaits Honzek, an 18-year-old forward from Slovakia.
"I'm not saying that's the case here, but he has that attitude of 'I want to make the team,’” Conroy said. “That's how you do it. You take it out of our hands and just play so well that you're like 'he belongs.' That's the message to the guys."
Honzek, selected with the No. 16 pick in the 2023 draft, has heard the message loud and clear.
"I think it's a big deal for me, especially when they told us there's a lot of players from development camp and rookie camp and then played a whole season in the NHL," he said. "Basically, they told us it was possible and they can see it. For me it's a big thing. But I try not to think about it."
Monahan was selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2013 draft and forced his way onto Calgary's roster instead of being returned to Ottawa of the Ontario Hockey League after a strong training camp and start to the regular season, when he scored six goals in the first eight games in 2013-14.
Tkachuk, selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2016 draft, stayed in Calgary instead of returning to London of the OHL after he scored four points (one goal, three assists) in eight games to start the 2016-17 season.
The opportunity for both to play NHL games to begin the season came after standout first camps with the Flames.
Honzek could be afforded a similar opportunity.
"I said it's a competition and there's going to be opportunity for guys," Conroy said. "Who's going to be that guy who takes that spot? Everyone says we make the decisions. You make the decisions. The players make the decisions for us. That's what I'm looking for. I do feel like we need to give opportunity. Not just give it to them, but they need to earn it. That's been the plan since the start."
Honzek (6-foot-4, 186 pounds) had 56 points (23 goals, 33 assists) in 43 games with Vancouver of the Western Hockey League last season, and spent parts of this summer training in Calgary, including a trip to the team's development camp in July.
"The work has been more specific," Honzek said. "The stuff we're doing should help us prepare for the NHL and these camps. I did a really good job during the summer and skated with the pros and lots of dev camp and spent time in the summer in Calgary working out with the Flames NHLers. It was really good. A bit busy but I have to go through it."
The effort hasn't gone unnoticed.
"The one thing is that I didn't even really know about him was the work ethic off the ice," Conroy said. "In Calgary this summer, the training, talking to our strength coaches … I saw the testing at the combine, but seeing him, he just wants to get better every day. He wants to challenge himself.
"Talking to (Flames forward) Dillon Dube, he said, 'watch out, he's coming' and he's trying to improve. The skating and shot, and everything, it's just starting to come and he's only going to get that much better. It's exciting for us. The size, package and skill is impressive."
Honzek, however, isn't thinking about life in the NHL just yet.
He wants to navigate training camp first.
"I don't want to go ahead," Honzek said. "But we'll have to see how it goes."
