Introduction
Julius Honka (born 3 December 1995) is a Finnish ice hockey defenceman. He is currently playing with the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Honka was selected by the Dallas Stars in the first round (14th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing career
Honka was a top rated prospect who was ranked #11 on the NHL Central Scouting Bureau final list of 2014 NHL Draft eligible North American skaters.
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. 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.
On 12 July 2014, Honka was signed to a three-year entry level contract with the Dallas Stars.
Honka scored his first career goal on 4 April 2017, a game winning overtime goal in a game against the Arizona Coyotes.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2012–13 | JYP | Jr. A | 42 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 47 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | ||
| 2013–14 | Swift Current Broncos | WHL | 62 | 16 | 40 | 56 | 52 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2014–15 | Texas Stars | AHL | 68 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 55 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | Texas Stars | AHL | 73 | 11 | 33 | 44 | 38 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2016–17 | Texas Stars | AHL | 50 | 7 | 24 | 31 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 16 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 16 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Finland | IH18 | 5th | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2013 | Finland | WJC18 | 03 ! |
7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2014 | Finland | WJC | 01 ! |
7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2015 | Finland | WJC | 7th | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| Junior totals | 24 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 18 | ||||
Awards and honours
| Awards | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| IIHF World U18 Championship (Team Finland) | 2013 | |
| Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament (Team Finland) | 2013 | |
| IIHF World U20 Championship Gold Medal (Team Finland) | 2014 | |
| CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game | 2013–14 |