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RD Julius Honka (2014, 14th, DAL)

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If he really is 5'9'' and not 5'11'' as listed -and not growing - well, that remains to be seen in the combine - but in that case he won't be a 1st rounder, not even close- but goes somewhere in the 3rd/4th round.
 
If he's stated to be 5'10-5'11 on numerous sites then propably that is the correct height and not 5'9 which he seem to look at one foto.
 
Loffer said:
If he really is 5'9'' and not 5'11'' as listed -and not growing - well, that remains to be seen in the combine - but in that case he won't be a 1st rounder, not even close- but goes somewhere in the 3rd/4th round.
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He'll go in the 2nd round at least. No way he slips that far with his skills, hockey sense, and improving defensive game.

Loffer said:
Quite right. I think hes 5'10 after all....
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Yeah, he's definitely not 5'9".
 
Markstrom Rules said:
He'll go in the 2nd round at least. No way he slips that far with his skills, hockey sense, and improving defensive game.



Yeah, he's definitely not 5'9".
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Yup. My best guess is hes 5'10.5'' right now (and still growing?). Definitely a 1st/early 2nd rounder.
 
Jussi said:


He doesn't look "that" short in these clips. That 179 cm could be very accurate.
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At 0:52 he's standing beside 5'11-6'0 Graham Black and Honka looks an inch or two shorter at most, could be anywhere from 5'9-5'11.
 
wings5 said:
At 0:52 he's standing beside 5'11-6'0 Graham Black and Honka looks an inch or two shorter at most, could be anywhere from 5'9-5'11.
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These head-to-head comparisons are futile since you just cannot get them right. But just by looking him on the ice generally among other players you can see that he is not THAT small. Definitely not 5'9.
 
Can he become more than just a blueline-specialist? He is very small to be a defender, how can he perform the most important part of dman's game?
 
He is a fantastic player. He doesn't play small either. I think he could go in the first round. Certainly no later than the second.
 
Probably dumb question and don't have time to read through thread and not very knowledgable about Finnish d prospects: is he close to a lock for Finland at wjc?
 
Tormentor (a quite knowledgeable poster on these boards) had this kind of guess of what the Finnish WJC team will look like:

Tormentor said:
My latest lottery:
Mäenalanen-Teräväinen-Lehkonen
H.Ikonen-Mustonen-J.Ikonen/Kapanen
Nikko - Kinnunen - Haapala
Rutanen - Rauhala - Nättinen

Vainonen - Pokka
Lindell - Lehtonen
Parikka - Mäkinen/Vainio/Honka
Tikkinen/Saari

Saros
Husso
Juvonen
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I think that the concerns with size may be somewhat overstated here. As has been stated throughout this thread, he doesn't shy away from physical play in the corners and he looks to be closer to 5'10"-5'11" at 17, still plenty of time to fill out.

Heck the only reason he looks small is that they've got him paired with Heatherington who's a big dude and very physically mature for his age.
 
He's been surprisingly good defensively on WJC. Even though he haven't put up points this tournament may boost his draft stock.

Just amazing passing game. Always finds the open man.
 
Not sure what's the general opinion, but for me his size hasn't been a factor on the world juniors so far. Likes to get physical alot.
 
jaa said:
Not sure what's the general opinion, but for me his size hasn't been a factor on the world juniors so far. Likes to get physical alot.
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Is size ever a real factor at that level? The player who is well developed physically at that age is a rare one.
 
Can someone of you NA guys tell how good he's done after the Juniors? NHL.com mock drafts has him pretty high, is he tearing it up on WHL?
 
jaa said:
Can someone of you NA guys tell how good he's done after the Juniors? NHL.com mock drafts has him pretty high, is he tearing it up on WHL?
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He's playing top pairing minutes as an 18 year old on a pretty decent Swift Current team and is scoring at a solid clip of close to a point-per-game.

In my very limited viewing of him he does stand out on the ice as an incredibly offensively gifted rearguard with excellent skating ability.

I've been tracking his progress for a while and it seems like his stock is rising, he seemed to be largely a late first rounder at the beginning of the year and now a lot of drafts have him mid-round just outside the top ten.
 
This kids has shades of Jared Spurgeon in him. Likes to rush the puck if there's room, will pass but has a good release as well. Solid defensively, too, and Honka has 2" on Spurgeon, who is an established top 4 D-man by now. I don't think his size will be an issue as long as he visits the gym frequently. He will need a lot of lower body strength, but that goes for every NHL player.

I see him drafted in early-mid 2nd round at this stage. He's been good, but nothing special, and there are a lot of teams who'd rather not take their chance on an undersized Finn. With that said, the team which takes him won't have to regret it. As I said, looks a lot like Spurgeon did with Spokane Chiefs.
 
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