NHL Draft War Room: Julius Honka

by

Julius Honka

THW’s NHL Draft War Room Rankings (E-Mac): #21 (Feb 2014)

THW’s NHL Draft Rankings – The Next Ones Edition (aka Chris’s List): #24 (March 2014)

Julius Honka
Julius Honka (Brad Watson)
  • Hashtag: #TheFinnishQB
  • Nickname: Honks
  • Team: #6, Swift Current, WHL
  • Position: Defense
  • Shoots: Right
  • Height: 5’11
  • Weight: 178 lb.
  • Born: Jyvaskyla, Finland, 3-Dec-95
  • Twitter: @HonkaJulius

Stats

Other Rankings

17 – NHL Combined – Mid-term, Jan-14

17 – Craig Button, Jan-14

18 – Bob MacKenzie, Jan-14

20 – HockeyProspect.com, Feb-14

30 – Future Considerations, Feb-14

Worth Retweeting

https://twitter.com/WHLFromAbove/status/385584185886269440

[For all the prospects profiled in the THW NHL Draft War Room series check out

the 2014 NHL Draft War Room: Prospect Profile Index]

Profiles

  • Profile 1: (Click on link within Tweet)

Quotable

  • Swift Current Coach, Mark Lamb, at NHL.com: “He’s been as good as advertised. He was just so good in training camp. His skating and his puck handling and his shot, he was way ahead of everybody. … You wonder, can he take it into the regular season and do it, but the biggest thing is how he practices and what he can do in practice, that’s where you really get a good look at this kid. He’s got some God-given talent that a lot of kids don’t have. He’s very high end. What he’s done offensively, the points are one thing, but he creates so many chances. He’s got that amount of points, he could have had a heck of a lot more.”

From the THW War Room

  • Eldon MacDonald, THW: A few words on Julius Honka:
    • Power play quarterback – Watch the Swift Current power play and it all starts with Julius Honka. He reads the ice, choreographs the play and makes it happen – shot, pass, deke, feint. He is also very good as the trailer on the rush and has a good shot with a quick release.
    • Offensive defenseman – With Julius, there seem to be a calmness of presence at either end of the ice. He seems to able to use his excellent skating and stickhandling abilities to move the puck up the ice at will.
    • Size – He has that Tobias Enstrom vibe where size doesn’t seem to matter even though he is only 5’11, 178 lb. Of course, he will have to add strength to improve upon his board battles and net clearing.
    • Draft placement – In the late teens on most lists. This is the area of the draft where general managers start to see so many little guys or not-so-big guys on their lists that you wonder if some of them may drop. However, I am betting that Julius will not be one of them as effective power play QB’s are pretty rare as well. And yes, he did win a gold medal with Team Finland at the U20 WJC.
    • Favourite player: No surprise – Erik Karlsson

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9u1VYwBHQc

About NHL Draft War Room Series

This series is compiled by Eldon MacDonald and edited by @ChrisRalphTHW)