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Dallas Stars Prospect Development Camp: Julius Honka, Jason Dickinson Impress

Posted on by Taylor Baird Managing Editor

Prospects for the Dallas Stars spent the week doing drills, learning the organization, and playing some cornhole in the community this week at prospect development camp. It was all capped off by a scrimmage game held yesterday morning in Frisco.

The scrimmage featured a good balance of Stars draft picks and camp invitees, including several Dallas-area hockey players and three members of the South Korean national team. Here’s some notes on the scrimmage in no particular order:

  1. Julius Honka’s decision making with the puck was a level above a lot of the other defensive prospects — and some forwards too. He often would make a pass to an open space only to have no winger there picking up on the fact that it was an area not covered by the opposition. He has a really crisp pass, too.
  2. Jason Dickinson looked pretty good. He was creative with the puck and made several nice passes in traffic to setup for scoring chances.
  3. Phillipe Desrosiers stood out to me as the best goaltender on mechanics and technical skill. He let in a few in the scrimmage, but a lot of that was a byproduct of defensive breakdowns in front. He struggled with some traffic in his crease and allowing that to pull him too far out of his net, leaving big open gaps of net for the forwards to take advantage of.
  4. This year’s draft pick Chris Martenet has good size, but he’ll need to get bigger in order to hang with NHL players. He’s also got decent skating ability, though his first step could use a little work. Could have just been feeling the effects of a jam-packed week, though.
  5. Gemel Smith is dangerous from the goal line. He also has a sneaky way of getting to that spot completely unchallenged. Really like his nose for the net.
  6. Aaron Haydon was a great communicator on the ice, and definitely the loudest. He has good defensive awareness and communicated not only with his partner but also with the forward group as well. Drove home the idea that he is committed to full-team defense.
  7. Remi Elie was the best offensive guy in the scrimmage, not only for the goals he scored but also for the scoring chances he seemed to generate. Smooth skater and able to recover nicely if his aggressive pinches don’t work out. Good two way play, but definitely more offense-minded.
  8. The South Korean national team players did not look out of place among NHL draftees. It’s exactly the kind of observation that you would want, since these three will bring back everything they learned to the rest of their team. South Korea will be playing to qualify in men’s hockey for the Olympic Winter Games they’ll be hosting.

If you were able to make it out to the scrimmage, what did you see? Who stood out to you? If you were not able to make it, here’s some videos we shot while out at the scrimmage. Enjoy hockey in July!

Talking Points