Dallas Stars: Free Honka Movement Starting Early After Healthy Scratch

It looks like the #FreeHonka hashtags will be kicking into high gear before the Dallas Stars play their first game tonight.

After the Dallas Stars had their morning skate today, it was confirmed that Julius Honka will be a healthy scratch tonight, despite appearing to be in for tonight during early line rushes.

Honka was the Stars’ first round pick four years ago in 2014. Since then, he’s spent a lot of time with the Texas Stars before moving up to the NHL.

He was a highly-valued prospect going into the 2015-16 trade deadline. The Stars were after Dan Hamhuis, but reports said that the Canucks wanted Honka and Jim Nill said no. The Stars eventually got Kris Russell from the Flames, losing Jyrki Jokipakka instead of Honka at the deadline, then signed Hamhuis in the offseason.

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In 2016-17, Honka finally got his first crack at the NHL, playing in 16 games. Fans were excited to see him get some playing time, but it didn’t last. Even with Jokipakka’s departure, there were so many young defensive prospects fighting for ice time, including Patrik Nemeth and Jamie Oleksiak.

When Ken Hitchcock took over in 2017-18, Honka moved up to the NHL full-time. The log jam cleared up early in the season as Nemeth headed to Colorado and Oleksiak went to Pittsburgh, and fans felt that Honka finally should’ve been getting playing time after that.

The problem was, he didn’t.

Sure, he got some games in, but only half the season. He averaged 13:01 in ice time over 42 games, while sitting healthy scratched for most of the other ones.

It was a situation that really shone a light on what was happening with so many young defensemen in the Stars organization. With the Stars carrying eight defensemen, it was hurting their development. Players don’t get better by sitting in the press box. Top prospects should either be playing in the AHL, where they’re at least getting ice time, or they should be in the NHL line-up.

The original idea was that Greg Pateryn would come in and be scratched until they needed him to fill in, but he played better than expected and earned a full-time spot on the line-up. That was good for him, but it left Honka in a bad position.

The feeling from many fans at this point is that the Stars either need to trade him or play him. If they’re going to make him sit healthy scratched, they should let him go somewhere else that will give him ice time and help him develop. If they want to keep him, they need to play him.

There are arguments that Honka needs to earn his ice time if he wants it, and it’s not an invalid point, but it’s unquestionable that the Stars have done a poor job of decision making with their defensive prospects over the past few years.

It certainly doesn’t help matters that the Stars are also trying to handle an injured Stephen Johns while going out and signing Roman Polak in free agency and trading for Connor Carrick right before the start of the season.

Honka’s no longer exempt from waivers to be sent down, but he’s in the last year of his entry-level contract. He’s going to want a good extension, but he’s not being given a chance to prove that he deserves it.