Carolina Hurricanes: Anttoni Honka, Diamond In The Rough?

Young Finnish defender Anttoni Honka was the first defender the Carolina Hurricanes selected in the 2019 draft. Just how bright is his future?

Whether the comparisons are justified or not, Anttoni Honka will always hear them. He’ll always be linked to his older brother – Julius – who was drafted 5 years earlier than Anttoni, back in 2014 by the Dallas Stars. They’re brothers. They’re both undersized, right-handed, offensively inclined defenders. But is comparing them fair?

As a Hurricanes supporter, you would hope not. For those unfamiliar with Julius Honka, a quick look at his career statistics would probably indicate a failed draft pick to the casual observer. The 14th overall pick in the 2014 Draft, Honka played just 87 games over 3 seasons in Dallas, and now plays alongside his brother Anttoni for JYP Jyvaskyla in the Finnish league.

Julius is 24-years old and now on the hunt to seek an NHL return. Anttoni, on the other hand, has his whole career ahead of him. Anttoni Honka was drafted 83rd overall by Carolina this past summer, a pick that was absolutely lauded by scouts based on where they got him. Early in the 2019 draft process, Honka was regarded as a potential top-10 pick, but questions about his defensive game divided scouts.

He’s a polarizing player, mostly due to his lack of size (he’s listed at 5’9, 170lbs) and his tendencies to make careless mistakes with the puck. When you consider who he molds his game after, it’s hardly a surprise. At his Draft Interview, Honka was asked about it:

"“I like to watch how Erik Karlsson plays hockey .. and thats kind of how I like to play”"

Fortunately for Honka, he has the raw skill and talent to make that comparison viable. He’s an absolutely electrifying skater – elite quickness, acceleration, and the ability to change and direct his pace. As a skater, his vision is tremendous, and he can twist and turn around the opposition like nobody’s business. This kid is happy to lead an offensive rush.

To be small and have a chance in the NHL, you need great skating ability. Honka has that. He also possesses great puck skills, and he doesn’t out-pace himself. He’s got the hockey IQ to make plays at top speed, and he’s dynamic as far as stickhandling goes. This kid is a treat to watch offensively; he’s really got game-breaking talent.

But with good comes some bad, and unfortunately that’s where Honka’s future gets cloudy. Scouts have continuously pointed out that he can be careless with the puck in attempts to create offense, and his overall ability in the defensive zone is questionable. His size will always limit him, but the hope is that his flaws can be hidden alongside a solid D partner in a good system.

Here’s a play from a WJC game that perfectly illustrates Honka; he makes a fantastic play to intercept a pass that would’ve led to a 2-on-0, but then attempts an extremely careless pass himself and the 2-on-0 ensues back the other way.

The plays like that one that make you wonder if he can sort out that “gunslinger” type mentality, but his talent has been evident at the World Juniors this year, where I’ve kept a close eye on him.

His first point of the tournament was an assist on fellow 2019 Hurricanes draft pick Patrik Puistola’s goal. Honka, isolated on the far right in the video below, shows how dangerous he can be on the powerplay. First, he had a great scoring chance on a scorching one-timer from the slot. The puck eventually works its way back to him, and after a hesitation to freeze the defense, he sent a gorgeous pass in front that Puistola finished off. Gorgeous sequence. Take a look:

He then wasted no time making his presence felt against Switzerland on Tuesday, when he unleashed an absolute rifle of a one-timer on the powerplay midway through the first period. Honka was also named as Finland’s Player of the Game for his performance.

And last but not least on the video front, Honka showed a bit of a side to him that’s been questioned by scouts: his physicality.  Against the United States on Thursday, Honka caught American forward Alex Turcotte with his head down and handed him a huge hit at center-ice.

The World Juniors are a decent evaluator of a player’s talent, but what Honka has done with his club team against grown men is far more impressive to me than at the WJC against his age group. Alongside his brother Julius for JYP, the younger brother Anttoni has led the way.

Anttoni leads all defensemen on his team in scoring, with 2 goals and 14 points total in 31 games. Now 19-years old, Honka has been playing in Liiga for parts of 3  seasons – dating back to his 17th birthday. In 78 total games, he’s got 7 goals and 31 points, which is extremely impressive for a 19-year old kid playing in a men’s hockey league.

The best part of drafting a guy like Honka is that the Carolina Hurricanes organization has all the time in the world to develop him. The roster is absolutely stacked on the back-end, and with other upcoming talents like Jake Bean, Chase Priskie and Jesper Sellgren, the Carolina Hurricanes can afford to wait until Honka has seasoned his game to the NHL level.

I mean, he’s obviously got some kinks to work out, but this is a kid who really has a limitless ceiling if he can adapt and acclimate his game to the NHL. Offensively he’s an absolute wizard, and could be the Canes’ powerplay specialist of the future. Time always tells.

CC Readers: How do you feel about Anttoni Honka’s potential?