Julius Honka

Julius Honka (born 3 December 1995) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for SC Bern of the National League. Honka was selected by the Dallas Stars in the first round (14th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

Julius Honka
Honka in 2014
Born (1995-12-03) 3 December 1995
Jyväskylä, Finland
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
NL team
Former teams		 SC Bern
Dallas Stars
JYP Jyväskylä
Lahti Pelicans
Luleå HF
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 14th overall, 2014
Dallas Stars
Playing career 2014–present

Playing career

Honka was a top rated prospect[1] who was ranked #11 on the NHL Central Scouting Bureau final list of 2014 NHL Draft eligible North American skaters.[2]

During the 2012–13 season Honka played with the Finland men's national under-18 ice hockey team at both the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships and the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.[3] Moving to North America for the 2013–14 WHL season, he competed with Team Finland to win gold at the 2014 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and was also selected to compete in the 2014 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.[4]

On 14 July 2014, Honka was signed to a three-year entry level contract with the Dallas Stars.[5] During the 2016–17 season, Honka scored his first career goal on 4 April 2017, a game winning overtime goal in a game against the Arizona Coyotes.[6]

In the following 2017–18 season, Honka was sent down to the Stars AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, on 31 October 2017.[7] He was later recalled and remained with Dallas to appear in a career high 42 games.

Unable to cement a role at the NHL level within the Stars' blueline, Honka as a pending restricted free agent formally requested a trade from the Stars in September 2019.[8] Unable to facilitate a satisfactory trade during the off-season, on 10 October 2019, Honka signed a contract with his original Finnish club, JYP Jyväskylä of the Liiga. As a restricted free agent, the Dallas Stars would retain his rights.[9] In the 2019–20 season, making his top level Liiga debut, Honka contributed with 4 goals and 15 points through 46 regular season games before the post-season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 30 October 2020, Honka returned to the Dallas Stars organization after he was signed to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000 at the NHL level and $90,000 at the AHL level.[10][11] Honka was placed on waivers by the Stars on 20 January 2021. After going unclaimed Honka was reassigned by Dallas to Texas appearing in 17 games at the AHL level.

Unable to further his NHL career, Honka returned to Europe and signed a two-year contract with Swedish club, Luleå HF of the SHL, on 26 May 2021.[12]

Personal life

Honka comes from a family of hockey players; his three brothers also play the same sport.[13] His younger brother Anttoni was drafted in the third round (83rd overall) by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and currently plays for JYP Jyväskylä of Finland's Liiga.[14]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2011–12 JYP FIN U18 26671316 —————
2011–12 JYP FIN U20 20000 —————
2012–13 JYP FIN U20 424111547 400025
2013–14 Swift Current Broncos WHL 6216405652 62026
2014–15 Texas Stars AHL 688233155 31124
2015–16 Texas Stars AHL 7311334438 40114
2016–17 Texas Stars AHL 507243159 —————
2016–17 Dallas Stars NHL 161454 —————
2017–18 Dallas Stars NHL 4213414 —————
2017–18 Texas Stars AHL 100226 —————
2018–19 Dallas Stars NHL 2904410 —————
2019–20 JYP Liiga 464111516 —————
2020–21 Pelicans Liiga 93474 —————
2020–21 Texas Stars AHL 171456 —————
2021–22 Luleå HF SHL 4610112122 174486
NHL totals 872111328 —————
Liiga totals 557152220 —————
Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Finland
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place2014 Malmö
World U18 Championships
Bronze medal – third place2013 Sochi

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2012 Finland IH18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 0 2 2 4
2013 Finland WJC18 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 71342
2014 Finland WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 70116
2015 Finland WJC 7th 51126
2017 Finland WC 4th 10 1 2 3 4
2018 Finland WC 5th 8 0 1 1 0
Junior totals 24 2 7 9 18
Senior totals 18 1 3 4 4

Awards and honours
Awards Year
WHL
CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game 2013–14 [15]
International
IIHF World U18 Championship 2013 [16]
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament 2013 [17]
IIHF World U20 Championship gold medal 2014 [18]

References
  1. "Move to North America suited Julius Honka's style of play". National Hockey League. 21 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  2. "NHL Central Scouting Service 2014 Draft North American skaters final rankings". National Hockey League. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  3. "Julius Honka: 2014 Top Prospect". WinnipegHockeyTalk.com. 15 June 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  4. "2014 Draft Eligibles: Julius Honka's move to North America has been worthwhile". Flyerdelphia.com. 20 February 2014. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  5. "Dallas Stars Sign Defenseman Julius Honka To Three-Year Entry-Level Contract". NHL.com. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  6. Stepneski, Mark (5 April 2017). "Julius Honka goal lifts Stars to overtime win". NHL.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  7. "Dallas Stars Download: Work in Progress Edition". The Hockey Writers. 4 November 2017.
  8. "Former first-round pick Julius Honka requests trade from Stars: 'It's time to move on'". Dallas News. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  9. "Julius Honka vahvistamaan JYPin takalinjoja" [Julius Honka to bolster the defensive lines of JYP]. jypliiga.fi (in Finnish). JYP Jyväskylä. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  10. "Julius Honka rejoins Stars on one-year, two-way deal". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  11. "Julius Honka - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps". CapFriendly. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  12. "New defenseman ready for Lulea". Luleå HF. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  13. "IIHF - Big brother is watching you". IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  14. "Anttoni Honka at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  15. "Martin and Honka skating in Top Prospects Game tonight". The Guardian. 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  16. "Julius Honka player profile". HockeysFuture.com. 22 March 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  17. "2013 Ivan Hlinka Tournament: Canada wins Gold". HockeyProspect.com. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  18. "Honka Broncos' true golden boy after World Juniors". Prairie Post. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
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