Former Stars first round pick hoping to get back into the NHL

Finnish defenceman Julius Honka is hoping to return to the NHL for the 2020-21 season, and is willing to do so with his former team, the Dallas Stars.

Speaking with a Finnish media outlet on Wednesday, the 24-year-old made it clear he would gladly play for the Stars next season despite holding out this past season. While the Stars hold his rights, Honka refused to sign a contract with the team last season after being a healthy scratch for four straight months to end the 2018-19 season. He requested a trade by the Stars in September of 2019 and elected to go play in the SM-liiga for JyP HT Jyvaskyla, where he had four goals and 15 points in 46 games.

Stars general manager Jim Nill also said recently that he hopes to have Honka back for the upcoming season. While he said at this time last year he was trying to grant the defencemans wishes and trade him, you can understand why they would not just want to give him away for nothing, as they selected him with the 14th overall pick at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. To this point in his career, he has played in 87 games, posting two goals and 13 points.

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