2023 NHL Draft prospect Samuel Honzek overloading stats columns

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Rookie winger Samuel Honzek has played so well for the Vancouver Giants this season that he merits a little on-pace treatment.

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That’s as in Honzek is on pace for 44 goals and 99 points this season as Vancouver approaches the one-third mark of the WHL regular season.

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The 18-year-old Slovak was leading Vancouver with 13 goals and 29 points through 20 games as of Wednesday morning. He carried a seven-game point streak (7-9-16) into the Giants’ Wednesday night visit to the Spokane Chiefs.

For perspective, Swedish winger Fabian Lysell, who was a 2021 NHL Draft first-round pick of the Boston Bruins, topped the Giants in regular-season scoring last year with 62 points, including 22 goals, in 53 games.

For further perspective, Honzek’s countryman, Marek Tvrdon, holds the Giants’ record for most goals (31) and points (74) for a European player in a regular season through the winger’s efforts in 60 games in 2011-12. 

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“I am more comfortable. I’ve been here two months. I know what life is like. I know what to expect,” said Honzek, who’s eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft. “I’m trying to do my best, trying to learn new things.”

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We offer up those on-pace numbers simply to give an idea of how Honzek has managed early on. They’re based, of course, on him seeing action in all of Vancouver’s 68 regular-season games and we already know that isn’t going to happen.

Honzek played for the Slovaks at last summer’s resurrected World Juniors in Edmonton and is expected to be a part of their team for this year’s tournament in Halifax and Moncton, N.B., which gets going on Boxing Day. Honzek doesn’t have any firm dates about a Slovak training camp yet but guesses he’ll be asked to join up with his national teammates around Dec. 14. That would mean he would miss six or seven Giants games.

Vancouver forward Zack Ostapchuk, 19, played for Team Canada over the summer and should be in the mix to play again in Moncton and Halifax. Team Canada will have a selection camp Dec, 9-12 in Moncton. That would mean Vancouver would be without Ostapchuk for nine or 10 games if the Ottawa Senators’ prospect sticks as expected. 

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The Giants’ season last year came off the rails when they lost Lysell and goaltender Jesper Vikman to Team Sweden and coach Michael Dyck, trainer Michael Burnstein and forward Justin Sourdif to Team Canada for the World Juniors, even though the tournament was shut down early because of COVID-19.

Vancouver lost nine of 10 when missing at least some portion of the quintet during December and eight of those defeats came to teams behind them in the standings. 

Giants centre Ty Thorpe, who’s one of 12 returnees from last year’s team, believes the group has learned from those world junior issues a season ago.

“Even though you’re losing those guys, your habits can’t change,” said Thorpe. “You have to stay disciplined. You have to come in with the same mindset. You have to keep your structure. 

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“Lots of teams go through that with World Juniors. I think we have a resilient group. We can overcome that.”

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Even with the time away, Honzek should have a crack at the totals put forth by both Lysell and Tvrdon.

Honzek was one of 10 WHLers given ‘A’ rankings on the NHL Central Scouting players-to-watch list, which means they think he’s in the running to be a first-round pick for the 2023 draft next summer.

He’s 6-foot-3 and 181 pounds and has already shown he has a willingness to make plays in high-traffic areas. And he has a speed burst, a capability of pulling away from defenders in open ice.

“He moves really well. He has that sneaky speed,” Thorpe said. “I think he’s made tremendous strides in his game even from the start of the year. He thinks the game at a very high level. He has a great shot. He moves the puck well. And he battles. “

SEwen@postmedia.com

twitter: @SteveEwen