Trade talks involving Stars RFA Honka “are accelerating”

On Friday, restricted free agent Stars defenseman Julius Honka made sure all the attention was on him when he demanded a trade out of Dallas before the start of the season. 

The Stars were reportedly attempting to move him earlier this summer, so they could find a suitor sooner rather than later. And this is what David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period is reporting on Tuesday night, stating that talks are accelerating. 

The young defenseman failed to break through to the main roster last season. Honka was the 14th overall pick at the 2014 National Hockey League Entry Draft but he has only gone on to appear in a combined 87 NHL games for the Dallas Stars since he was selected. It now appears that after flunking out with the organizations current coaching staff that the Stars believe a fresh start would be best for both parties involved.

It is quite clear that the Stars still place considerable value on Honka as a player in spite of their desire for a trade, based on the way they utilized him last season alone. Honka appeared in 29 games for the Stars during the 2018 - 2019 campaign and it appeared that the coaching staff had seen everything they needed to see at that point. Stars head coach Jim Montgomery would make Honka a healthy scratch for literally every game that followed the 2019 NHL All-Star break and every game that the Stars played in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but still the team showed that they valued him.

Honka requires waivers to be sent down to the American Hockey League and you would think that a player in his situation would be sent down to the AHL for continued development, but that was not the case. Honka was instead scratched for 48 straight games in order to keep him on the main roster and to protect him from the waiver process, further indication that the Stars had been looking to find a trade here and get something out of a former top 15 first round draft selection.