Julius Honka

Julius Honka (born 3 December 1995) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for HC Ajoie of the National League (NL). Honka was selected by the Dallas Stars in the first round, 14th overall, in the 2014 NHL entry draft.

Playing career Honka was a top rated prospect who was ranked 11th 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 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 14 July 2014, Honka was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Dallas Stars. 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.

In the following 2017–18 season, Honka was sent down to the Stars AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, on 31 October 2017. 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. 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. 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. 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 Swedish Hockey League (SHL), on 26 May 2021.

Personal life Honka comes from a family of hockey players; his three brothers also play the same sport. 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.

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 26 6 7 13 16 — — — — — 2011–12 JYP FIN U20 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2012–13 JYP FIN U20 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 — — — — — 2017–18 Dallas Stars NHL 42 1 3 4 14 — — — — — 2017–18 Texas Stars AHL 10 0 2 2 6 — — — — — 2018–19 Dallas Stars NHL 29 0 4 4 10 — — — — — 2019–20 JYP Liiga 46 4 11 15 16 — — — — — 2020–21 Pelicans Liiga 9 3 4 7 4 — — — — — 2020–21 Texas Stars AHL 17 1 4 5 6 — — — — — 2021–22 Luleå HF SHL 46 10 11 21 22 17 4 4 8 6 2022–23 Luleå HF SHL 46 12 15 27 41 10 2 2 4 4 2023–24 SC Bern NL 25 3 9 12 14 4 0 2 2 2 2023–24 Genève-Servette HC NL 18 2 7 9 2 — — — — — 2024–25 HC Davos NL 46 9 15 24 10 5 0 0 0 0 2025–26 SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers NL 36 6 13 19 39 — — — — — NHL totals 87 2 11 13 28 — — — — — Liiga totals 55 7 15 22 20 — — — — — SHL totals 92 22 26 48 63 27 6 6 12 10 NL totals 125 20 44 64 65 9 0 2 2 2

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2012 Finland IH18 5 0 2 2 4 2013 Finland WJC18 7 1 3 4 2 2014 Finland WJC 7 0 1 1 6 2015 Finland WJC 7th 5 1 1 2 6 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 International IIHF World U18 Championship 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament 2013 IIHF World U20 Championship gold medal 2014