Young RFA requests to be traded

​A lot of action on the first days of training camp!

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Young RFA requests to be traded
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The attention has been place on several star restricted free agents, notably Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner, Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser and Winnipeg Jets’ Patrik Laine, however, another yet sure knew how to get the spotlight on him on Friday morning. 

Defenseman Julius Honka, who hasn’t reported to the Dallas Stars’ training camp because he remains unsigned, has demanded a trade on Friday morning, according to Mike Heika and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. 





It seems like both parties cannot agree on an extension and the young blue liner got fed up. However, the Stars were reportedly attempting to move him earlier this summer, so they could find a suitor sooner rather than later. 

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.

With his blessing this morning, let’s see if the Stars can find a trade partner. 

Source: Twitter