Defenseman Julius Honka signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Dallas Stars on Friday. This contract is worth $700,000 in the NHL and $90,000 in the AHL and carries him through the 2021-22 season.
Welcome back, Honks!
We have signed Julius Honka to a one-year, two-way contract
📝 https://t.co/L5tS4yW173 pic.twitter.com/yTpNXpnIS0
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) October 30, 2020
Julius Honka Signed by the Dallas Stars
Honka returns to the Stars after spending a season playing in Finland for JyP. In 46 games played, he registered four goals and 11 assists for 15 points. During his last season in the NHL with the Stars, the 2018-29 campaign, he played in 29 games, recording four assists. During that time, he played mostly bottom-pairing minutes, averaging about 14 minutes of time on ice per game. He was drafted by the Stars in the 2014 NHL Draft, in the first round, 14th overall. He has spent most of his time in the AHL but has played some minutes in the big leagues. Over his 3-year NHL career, he has played 87 games, scored twice, dished out 11 assists for a total of 13 points. Over that same time period, he has registered 28 penalties in minutes. Between 2016 and 2018, he played more games in the AHL with the Texas Stars. In 60 games played, Honka registered 33 points – seven goals and 26 assists.
Future Outlook
The Stars have a great defensive core led by John Klingberg and future Norris winner Miro Heiskanen. However, their third defensive pairing has shuffled around quite a bit. Thomas Harley, Mark Pysyk, and Honka are all fighting for a chance to crack the starting roster. There are much better defensemen in their way though, such as Andrej Sekera and Stephen Johns. It will be difficult for any prospect to see NHL ice time unless one of the starting defensemen goes down with an injury. However, Honka has shown great promise with the Stars and will be a key depth piece if he ever needs to be called up. If one of the current starting defensemen is traded or injured, Honka will be one of the first players to get a call and lacing up his skates to play with Dallas.
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