Adam Klapka was one of the last Flames off the ice Thursday morning, as the team held an optional skate at WinSport.
As a younger player - and a recent recall from the AHL’s Wranglers - it’s maybe an expectation.
But Klapka is dedicated to his craft, so he stayed out - firing shot after shot - working on his game in anticipation of his next NHL appearance.
At 6-foot-8, he’s impossible to miss out there. The Czech winger towers over his teammates both on skates and in street shoes, as he continues to optimize just how his massive frame can help him make an impact in the NHL, night in, night out.
Across the continent, another big man is enjoying a breakout season with the Washington Capitals.
In his fourth NHL season, Aliaksei Protas has broken out offensively. He’s put home 28 of his 41 career NHL goals in 2024-25 - a total that included his first career hat-trick earlier this week - and he leads the league this season with an eye-popping +39 rating.
Protas - just under four months Klapka’s junior - stands 6-foot-6and checks in at 247 lb., so needless to say, there are similarities size-wise.
But his season in D.C. has also caught the attention of Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska, who wondered aloud about whether Klapka can develop into the same type of impact player here, in The Show.
“We talk lots about (Klapka) being a player that we don’t have, the way he skates, his size, he’s a powerful man,” he said Wednesday. “Everybody’s kind of seen what the big guy in Washington has done this year - Protas - and it really makes you intrigued with what we have with Klapper, because he’s got a good skill set, he’s a physical guy, he’s a load to handle much the same.
“We want to keep working with him, and having him grow within our organization.”
Klapka doesn’t have Protas’ NHL resume - yet. The Flames forward was a free-agent signing, while Protas was picked in the third round of 2019's Draft.
But the offensive potential is there. He had a high-water mark of 21 goals with the Wranglers last season and this winter, Klapka has 15 tallies split across the AHL and NHL.
“You look at his (Protas’) year prior, I think he had six goals - I think he’s up to almost 30 this year,” Huska explained. “He figured his way, as he kinda moved along here. American League numbers - kinda similar - as to what both guys have been.
“It’s just something that we look at. He’s such an impactful player for them, we know we have a player like that, and now it’s a matter of working with him, and seeing if we can get our guy to that level.”
Calgary defenceman Brayden Pachal has a unique perspective on both big men.
Thursday at practice, he stayed out late with Klapka.
But as a junior, Pachal captained the Prince Albert Raiders to a WHL title in 2019 - a team on which Protas played a starring role, parlaying an 11-goal regular season into a 12-goal, 22-point spring during Prince Albert’s playoff run.
“We had a really good team, he was a big part of it,” Pachal recalled Thursday. “(Calgarian) Brett Leason was also on that team, and he had a breakout year. I think he would probably attribute a lot of that to playing with Alex, just the little plays that Alex makes.
“He sees the ice super-well, he finds the open man, he’s a playmaker, he’s got the shot; he’s kind of got it all. It’s no surprise what he’s doing now.”
And Pachal sees the same type of similarities that Huska sees, when lining up the two tall forwards side by side, so to speak.
“I think you do. Klapper’s a massive man, he moves well and he’s got great skill,” he said. “I think that’s Alex to a T; he’s a big guy, he skates really well, he sees the ice and he has the skill to go along with it.
As Klapka becomes more accustomed to the speed and skill at the NHL level - remember, he’s played only 19 games with the Flames to this point - the hope is that he can use his size to his advantage, much like Protas has learned to do with the Eastern Conference-leading Caps.
THAT would be music to everyone’s ears.
“He puts the work in; I think you kinda have to for a big guy like that,” Pachal said. “But another thing Klapper brings, he’s tough. He plays the game hard, so I think he kinda has that edge a little bit, that Alex may not.
“I think Klapper’s development curve is definitely on the right trend.”
