NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- If the Penguins want to go "big" with their first-round pick this week, forward Sam Honzek could be an option with pick No. 14.
Honzek, at 6 foot 4 and 195 pounds, already has pro size and is one of the bigger forwards projected to go in the first round on June 28 in Nashville, Tenn.
Honzek, 18, looks to be a mid-first to late-first round pick. Rankings vary wildly with the major services, from No. 10 (Sportsnet), No. 17 (Bob McKenzie, TSN), No. 20 (Elite Prospects), No. 30 (Recruit Scouting), all the way to No. 36 (FC Hockey).
There's no way of knowing where Honzek rank on actual teams' draft boards heading into this week, but he could potentially be an option if the Penguins trade down in the draft as well.
There's one (fixable) weakness in Honzek's game that stands out that is likely a factor in the wildly different rankings. If teams can get past that, they can get a well-rounded, promising prospect.
"I'm a really good two-way forward," Honzek told me of his strengths at the scouting combine earlier this month. "I can play on both sides of the puck. My shot is really my biggest strength, and I think I'm really good in one-on-one battles and protecting pucks. So I think for the teams, it's really good for the type of player I am, heavy and strong. I can also play wing and center."
Honzek excels at the net-front, though he isn't as physical as one might hope he'd be given his size.
Honzek, who has a left-handed shot, said that he likes to try to emulate someone like Leon Draisatil, because he's another big, tall forward who has good hockey sense and can use his body well.
Honzek is a rare example of a player who has both professional experience and extended experience playing on the smaller North American ice surface, the latter usually being lacking in players who have professional experience in Europe.
Honzek spent the 2021-22 season playing in the top men's league in his native Slovakia, where he scored 10 goals and four assists in 49 games. This past season he made the jump to the WHL with the Vancouver Giants, where he finished No. 2 on the team in scoring with 23 goals and 33 assists in 43 games.
"I think it really helped me," Honzek said of the move to North America. "I felt I would be closer to the NHL. It was the first time I moved far from my family, I left my hometown. From that side, I would say I didn't have any problems during the season. And in the WHL, I played against really good players, it really helped me."
In early January Honzek also played -- briefly -- for Slovakia in the U20 World Junior Championship. He suffered an injury in his second game of the tournament when the skate blade of a U.S. player cut his left calf, an injury that required over 20 stitches, both on the calf muscle itself and over top of it. Honzek was sidelined for two months of the WHL season, a period during which he met with the Giants' mental coach to deal with the disappointment. He focused on getting stronger in the gym during that time off, and he doesn't think the injury hurt his draft stock too much in the end.
What does have Honzek's draft position varying is his skating, something that seems to be a result of Honzek still adjusting to his big frame more than anything. He has decent speed, but has an awkward stride that isn't nearly as powerful as it could be given his size.
Honzek pointed to his skating and conditioning as his biggest focuses in his game, things that he wants to work on if he is to make it to the NHL.
The good news is that the strength is definitely there, as Honzek showed during the fitness testing at the combine. He was one of the standouts.
The Wingate test has a player pedaling on an exercise bike at top speed for 30 seconds, and Honzek had the top maximum power output of the 100-plus prospects who participated at 22.4 watts per kilogram. His standing broad jump (a leap forward) was the second-best among prospects at 117.5 inches. He placed third in the vertical jump in which prospects keep their arms at their sides, with a 19.5-inch vertical. In the agility test that evaluates multi-directional speed, agility and whole body reaction plus control as a player runs back-and-forth, side-to-side from 15, 30, and 15 feet, Honzek placed fourth when starting on the right side with a time of 4.32 seconds.
That's all encouraging for Honzek to have in his toolbox if skating is a real concern for teams.
Honzek said he spoke with 25 teams at the combine in the pre-draft interviews. The Penguins were one of them, and he added that he thought it was one of the better meetings he had with teams.
"It was really good," Honzek told me of that meeting. "It was one of my best interviews of the teams who I would say showed interest. They told me I'll probably meet them (again) before the draft too, so we'll see that goes."
This is the 12th story in a series of player profiles from the NHL's Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y., focusing on potential first-round picks for the Penguins.
