Prospect Info: 14th Overall - Julius Honka

[SolidusAKA]

In the intersquad scrimmages a couple of fans from DBD who went "reported" that he took out Jamie Benn with a nifty, illegal-ish body slam. Kid's definitely got some snarl. I laughed when he predictably got the worst of it trying to level Nick Ritchie, but the kid doesn't back down that's for damn sure.

He redeemed himself on that hit by destroying someone else on TC during the 2nd or 3rd. I forget who it was though.

 

[Jaan]

1+1 -2 for Honka in 5 games.

Very disappointing performance in this tournament. Abysmal defensively, useless on the PP, only thing he was good at was moving the puck up the ice. Seems that he wasn't able to handle the pressure of being the number one D for his team.

 

[Johno]

And if you actually watched the games and not boxscores, you would've seen that the PP was all on the coaching. The way they practised the PP was ***** from the beginning, yet nothing was changed.

He was fine defensively, and that's not actually something that was ever expected out of him. He is a offensive D. Most of us were surprised of his added gritty play.

Yes he probably could've performed better, but it's not like the team around him was playing any better or oozing with talent. He was a top 3 player of that team in the tourney, along with Rantanen and Puljujärvi.

 

[Jaan]

And if you actually watched the games and not boxscores, you would've seen that the PP was all on the coaching. The way they practised the PP was ***** from the beginning, yet nothing was changed.

He was fine defensively, and that's not actually something that was ever expected out of him. He is a offensive D. Most of us were surprised of his added gritty play.

Yes he probably could've performed better, but it's not like the team around him was playing any better or oozing with talent. He was a top 3 player of that team in the tourney, along with Rantanen and Puljujärvi.

I'm not even going to respond to that 'watch some games, noob' jab. No need to fall to that level while discussion matters of opinion.

The PP was flawed, yes, but it's never 100% on the coaches. It's up to the players to go out there and give it their best shot. Honka was expected to run the PP, since it's certainly something he's good at. Yet in this tournament his decisionmaking was terrible and his passes were way off. In addition to this I bet that around 90% of his shots hit the shin guards of the first guy infront of him. I'm not saying Honka should've single-handedly fixed the PP, but he did fail to deliver given the expectations he was carrying.

As you said he didn't get much support from his teammates, which lead him to try do everything by himself. Sure, he had a couple of pretty coast-to-coast plays, but they didn't amout to much. Instead he lost the puck more often than not, leading to him appearing a selfish and arrogant puck-hog.

Of course he wasn't the worst defender out there and he's not to blame for Finland's poor play overall. He had flashes of greatness, but in the end the role which he would've had to fill in order to lead this team to victory was just too big for him. Disappointing considering the expectations.

 

[Satan]

He and Puljujarvi were the speckle of gold amongst a heaping pile of trash.

 

[Primetimey*]

1+1 -2 for Honka in 5 games.

Very disappointing performance in this tournament. Abysmal defensively, useless on the PP, only thing he was good at was moving the puck up the ice. Seems that he wasn't able to handle the pressure of being the number one D for his team.

Did you even watch the games? Honka was one of the best players on the ice game in and game out.

 

[David Castillo]

I'm not even going to respond to that 'watch some games, noob' jab. No need to fall to that level while discussion matters of opinion.

The PP was flawed, yes, but it's never 100% on the coaches. It's up to the players to go out there and give it their best shot. Honka was expected to run the PP, since it's certainly something he's good at. Yet in this tournament his decisionmaking was terrible and his passes were way off. In addition to this I bet that around 90% of his shots hit the shin guards of the first guy infront of him. I'm not saying Honka should've single-handedly fixed the PP, but he did fail to deliver given the expectations he was carrying.

As you said he didn't get much support from his teammates, which lead him to try do everything by himself. Sure, he had a couple of pretty coast-to-coast plays, but they didn't amout to much. Instead he lost the puck more often than not, leading to him appearing a selfish and arrogant puck-hog.

Of course he wasn't the worst defender out there and he's not to blame for Finland's poor play overall. He had flashes of greatness, but in the end the role which he would've had to fill in order to lead this team to victory was just too big for him. Disappointing considering the expectations.

Not only did I watch the games, but all of Honka's shifts are cat memes on my tumblr account. So there.

First off, nobody is arguing that he played "perfect". The whole shooting the puck into the shin pads thing is something he's done in Cedar Park, and it's true that he has a tendency to "thread the needle" a little too much: making risky passes through a forechecker's legs, holding the puck a little too long, etc.

But his play was solid overall. Telling anyone that his "passes were off" just speaks to a lack of context; I lost track of how many times Honka would make the absolute perfect pass, but Finland's forwards would fumble it around, make a boneheaded play to retrieve it, and then off the opponent goes in transition from a turnover. Honka made sure that Finland's PP looked historically bad rather than worse than historically bad (calling it "flawed" is a comical understatement). Just look at Finland's numbers: one of only five teams to have the man advantage 20 or more times, yet converted on zero chances. Their percentage of goals from total shots was 4% (!). Good for slightly better than dead last Germany. With only 16 points, he accounted for 12% of Finland's offense. Finland also had a really bad PK which was critical against the US (their only goal in regulation) and Sweden.

He played the toughest matchups, and did what he could with those around him. You won't find many bright spots on team Finland and certainly not from the staff. But if you had to find them, Honka was certainly up there with guys like Rantanen, Lehkonen, Hintz, and Puljujarvu (hope I'm getting that right without the benefit of google).

 

[hagan88]

Julius Honka

Do you see Honka here long term or potential trade?

He is a great puck moving defenseman, and can put points up. But we really need to add some size and strength on our back end especially going up against bigger players in the west and our division.

 

[LT]

I think it's a bit too early to tell. He's probably a valuable trade chip, but he still hasn't even been a Stars' prospect for a year yet.

Gonna have to sit and wait and see how he develops.

 

[Mr Misty]

Do you see Honka here long term or potential trade?

He is a great puck moving defenseman, and can put points up. But we really need to add some size and strength on our back end especially going up against bigger players in the west and our division.

It's much easier to find a big defenseman for your 3rd pair than a guy with top end skill. Nemeth and Oleksiak are big and strong. Joki is big but not hugely physical, maybe that is something he develops. Lindell is shorter at 6'2 and not physical. Peters and Haydon are 6'4, Karjalainen is 6'5. We've got guys of varying degrees of readiness who are at least 6'2, we can afford to have one not huge human playing on the blueline.

If Honka gets traded it shouldn't be because of stature.

 

[EXTRAS]

What is Honka's upside, and when do you see him being a rookie on the dallas blueline? the year after this upcoming year?

 

[Mr Misty]

What is Honka's upside, and when do you see him being a rookie on the dallas blueline? the year after this upcoming year?

It sounds like he is definitely behind Lindell now, so 16-17 would be my guess as long as he continues to improve.

 

[Satan]

2016-17 sounds about right, if there's any room for him.

 

[LT]

Not sure if you guys saw, but Honka was ranked the #22 prospect by HF.

Just one of the many scouting organizations, but its nice to see him get some recognition for his great season.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Not only did I watch the games, but all of Honka's shifts are cat memes on my tumblr account. So there.

First off, nobody is arguing that he played "perfect". The whole shooting the puck into the shin pads thing is something he's done in Cedar Park, and it's true that he has a tendency to "thread the needle" a little too much: making risky passes through a forechecker's legs, holding the puck a little too long, etc.

But his play was solid overall. Telling anyone that his "passes were off" just speaks to a lack of context; I lost track of how many times Honka would make the absolute perfect pass, but Finland's forwards would fumble it around, make a boneheaded play to retrieve it, and then off the opponent goes in transition from a turnover. Honka made sure that Finland's PP looked historically bad rather than worse than historically bad (calling it "flawed" is a comical understatement). Just look at Finland's numbers: one of only five teams to have the man advantage 20 or more times, yet converted on zero chances. Their percentage of goals from total shots was 4% (!). Good for slightly better than dead last Germany. With only 16 points, he accounted for 12% of Finland's offense. Finland also had a really bad PK which was critical against the US (their only goal in regulation) and Sweden.

He played the toughest matchups, and did what he could with those around him. You won't find many bright spots on team Finland and certainly not from the staff. But if you had to find them, Honka was certainly up there with guys like Rantanen, Lehkonen, Hintz, and Puljujarvu (hope I'm getting that right without the benefit of google).

Honka did he could in world juniors but it wasn't his fault that whole Finland's 2015 WJC group sucked.
If we want found that who's guilty for Finland's lousy effort in 2015 WJC it is head coach Hannu Jortikka.

Even i was totally confused when Finland's hockey association announced summer 2014 that
Jortikka will replace Karri Kivi in team Finland's U20 junior squads head coach.

I'm sure that Honka is doing fine in NHL, of course he needs improve his physical abilities and defensive game.
And when Honka's time is coming it'll be worth of all that hard work what he's doing in Texas Stars and his summer training.

 

[jeffff]

So....is he getting in the lineup any time soon? I was disappointed that he didn't play last game. Playing tonight?

 

[Magic Mittens]

Nope, hes scratched again. Should have played last night. Could have used him

 

[Mestaruus]

Nope, hes scratched again. Should have played last night. Could have used him

I was also surprised he didn't play yet. I thought this season could be his breakthrough season.

 

[WhatWhat]

I was also surprised he didn't play yet. I thought this season could be his breakthrough season.

Hes playing tonight

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

I hope he never rides the pine again.

 

[Kardi]

How did he look?

edit:
heres a link of ppls thoughts who watched yesterday

 

[BrettHullsToe]

Honka has looked good so far. He settled in and quit making rookie errors quicker than I expected - he's even throwing a few checks to take forwards out of the play, which I don't recall seeing him do much before. It's really nice having him available for the 2nd PP, so I suspect his days in the AHL are over.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

After last nights game, Hitch said Johns and Hammer were good, but wants to get JO back in. Sounds like Lindell or Honka get the scratch tomorrow, but neither of them deserves to sit, either. Sounds like we are doing the carousel again.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

After last nights game, Hitch said Johns and Hammer were good, but wants to get JO back in. Sounds like Lindell or Honka get the scratch tomorrow, but neither of them deserves to sit, either. Sounds like we are doing the carousel again.

There is absolutely no way Lindell gets scratched. The guy is excellent.

 

[MBTendy]

Should have moved Honka for Tanev