Montreal Canadiens: Is Noah Juulsen Injury Leading To Interest In Julius Honka?

The Montreal Canadiens have been rumoured to be interested in acquiring Julius Honka from the Dallas Stars. Is the interest in Honka a direct result of Noah Juulsen’s injury?

The Montreal Canadiens entered training camp with a lot of depth at right defence. They have Shea Weber at the top of the heap and Jeff Petry not far behind him. The battle for the third right defense spot was up for Noah Juulsen, Christian Folin, Josh Brook and Cale Fleury to fight over.

Shortly after training camp began, there was a rumour that the Canadiens were one of the few teams interested in trading for Julius Honka of the Dallas Stars. Honka was a first round pick in 2014. The Finnish defender was a frequent healthy scratch of the Stars last season and had requested a trade.

Initially, it seemed like the Habs had more than enough depth on the right side of their defense pairings and had no use for Honka. Sure, he had great years for the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League, but he has failed to produce results at the National Hockey League level. He is just 23 so there is still time for him to turn things around, but didn’t the Habs have enough players of a similar age playing that exact position?

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Well, since training camp began, one of those players has been missing in action. Noah Juulsen has barely taken the ice yet, and is now seeking a second opinion to try and figure out what is going on with his frequent headaches.

Juulsen, you will recall, started last season playing well, but was hit in the face with two pucks during a game against the Washington Capitals in November. He came back for a short time but has not played a game since the end of December. Us fans were led to believe he is now healthy, but clearly that is not the case.

Just trying to put two and two together here but, the Habs have a right defenseman in Juulsen who we thought would play lots of games in Montreal this season. However, he is yet to hit the ice and is now seeking additional medical advice. The team is also interested in acquiring a right defender from the Dallas Stars.

Is this Noah Juulsen injury far more serious than the team is letting on right now?

If it isn’t serious, why are the Habs looking to acquire Honka? Where would all the right defensemen fit? It wouldn’t make sense to acquire Honka and then place him on waivers to send him to the minors. If Juulsen is healthy we have every reason to believe he would earn a role with the Habs quickly. Folin was not re-signed to play in the minors.

The logjam at the bottom of the Habs defense pairings gets huge very quickly. Unless of course, Juulsen is having serious health problems and is not going to factor into the equation this season. In that case, a little insurance at the bottom of the lineup would be nice so that Cale Fleury and Josh Brook aren’t rushed into NHL action if they are not ready.

I truly hope that Noah Juulsen is not seriously injured and that his symptoms are manageable for him. However, if he is not seriously injured, why do the Canadiens even need Honka? There simply isn’t room for both of them.

If the Habs acquire Honka in the next few days that would add some depth to the team. However, it might only happen if Juulsen is going to be out of the lineup long term. Let’s hope for Juulsen’s sake that Honka won’t be heading to Montreal any time soon.