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Ex-Rangers forward Brett Howden playing key role in Vegas playoff push
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- Ex-Rangers forward Brett Howden playing key role in Vegas playoff push
Former New York Rangers forward Brett Howden already owns one Stanley Cup ring with the Vegas Golden Knights . He's doing his best to get another.
Howden was a member of the Rangers for three seasons before being traded to the Golden Knights in July 2021. He became a useful bottom-six producer with Vegas, and helped his new team win the Cup in 2023 by scoring five goals and adding five assists in 23 postseason games.
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But Howden is an even bigger contributor this spring, helping the Golden Knights knock off the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks – each in six games. Vegas begins its Western Conference Final series against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night in Denver.
Howden has eight goals in Vegas' 12 games, one shy of teammate Pavel Dorofeyev for the NHL postseason lead. He tops all players with three short-handed goals (no one else has more than one) and is tied for the lead with two-game winners. That includes one overtime goal – the third of his career.
The 28-year-old hit all three of those categories on April 29, when he became just the second player since 1933-34 (when the NHL began tracking goals by type) to score a short-handed winner in a playoff game that required multiple overtimes. His historic goal gave Vegas a 5-4 double-overtime win over the Utah Mammoth in Game 5 of their first-round series.
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"It's been great just seeing him explode with confidence and making plays," said Mitch Marner , who assisted on four of Howden's first five goals including the double-OT winner against Utah. "He does so many great things for us on the ice."
Howden's scoring fuels Vegas run to Western Conference Final
Howden is also plus-6 and averaging 16:28 of ice time through the first two rounds – more than he's averaged in any regular season or previous postseason. His impact extends beyond goal-scoring and he's earned the confidence of coach John Tortorella.
"He's a tremendous utility guy for the team," Tortorella explained earlier in the postseason, before being fined $100,000 by the NHL this past week for failing to speak with the media after Vegas' Game 6 win over the Ducks.
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"He plays all three forward positions, power-play guy, penalty-kill guy, face-off guy. I didn't know much about him before I came here. He has certainly brought his game to a different level."
The Tampa Bay Lightning took Howden in the first round (No. 27 overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft. They traded him to the Rangers on Feb. 26, 2018, before he ever played a game in the NHL, in a deal that sent defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller to Tampa Bay . Yes, THAT trade which got New York's rebuild off to a shaky start after issuing The Letter.
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Howden had 16 goals, 49 points and was minus-29 during three seasons as a bottom-six forward with the Rangers before general manager Chris Drury sent him to Vegas on July 17, 2021, for defenseman Nick DeSimone and a fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft. In all, he has 163 points (74 goals, 89 assists) in 489 NHL regular-season games – and 25 points (17 goals, eight assists) in 55 playoff games.
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Howden played a bigger role with the Golden Knights than anyone could have predicted, to say the least.
"That's what we all love about playoffs," Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon told The Athletic earlier this month. "It's what players love about playoffs. It presents those kinds of opportunities. Brett has been a really good playoff performer."
Howden played on a line with Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson during the Golden Knights' run to the Cup three years ago. He filled the role of a net-front presence and scored the OT winner in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars .
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After signing a five-year, $12.5 million contract ($2.5 million average annual value) with Vegas on Nov. 22, 2024, Howden enjoyed his best NHL season, finishing with career highs of 22 goals and 40 points before scoring the game-winning goal in Game 1 in the Golden Knights' first-round series against the Minnesota Wild last spring and an OT winner in Game 5.
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Injuries limited Howden to 58 games this season, and he dropped to 12 goals and 22 points. But he's been filling the net this spring on a line with Marner and Stone.
"He can play anywhere," McCrimmon told The Athletic. "He can go on any line and make that line better. He has size and speed, so those things are what make him a really effective player at this time of year."
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