Last year brought a lot of vindication for anyone with any opinion about Julius Honka. For those who doubted his ability to live up to first-round pick status, Ken Hitchcock and Rick Wilson’s decreasing usage of him last season and Honka’s 10-game reassignment to the AHL proved their doubts warranted. Clearly, Honka wasn’t ready for the big-time, even (or especially) in a defensive system that didn’t ask its defenders to do too much magic with the puck.
So Honka only played 42 games with the big club last season, while players like Greg Pateryn, who was lost for nothing in free agency, garnered more minutes in what was ultimately a lost season.