Not many players in the NHL had bigger breakout seasons than Brett Howden in 2024-25. Coming into the season having scored 39 goals in 351 games and never reaching double digits in a single season, the versatile 27-year-old scored 23 in the regular season and added three more in the playoffs. He inked a new long-term deal to remain in Vegas, and he became one of the more trusted players on the bench for head coach Bruce Cassidy.
Howden effectively served as the Golden Knights’ Swiss Army knife in 2024-2025. He played on 29 different lines in his 80 games, never played on the same line for more than 10 games, and was matched up with 18 different forwards throughout the regular and postseason.
Through it all, he found a way to continue scoring and remain effective both offensively and defensively in a wide range of roles. Here’s a look at Howden’s production based on which line he began each game on.
| GP | Goals | Points | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As Center | 50 | 15 | 21 | +4 |
| As Winger | 41 | 11 | 22 | +11 |
| 1st Line | 5 | 1 | 3 | +4 |
| 2nd Line | 27 | 6 | 12 | +3 |
| 3rd Line | 40 | 10 | 19 | +10 |
| 4th Line | 19 | 9 | 9 | -2 |
| w/ Eichel | 2 | 0 | 1 | +2 |
| w/ Karlsson | 24 | 6 | 7 | -2 |
| w/ Stone | 6 | 0 | 4 | +1 |
| w/ Roy | 9 | 4 | 4 | -3 |
| w/ Hertl | 13 | 5 | 8 | +6 |
| w/ Dorofeyev | 26 | 7 | 11 | +7 |
Surprisingly, Howden’s production as a center compared to a winger was not much different. He scored 0.30 goals per game as a center and 0.27 as a winger while posting a few more points on the wing. The best bang-for-the-buck came as a 4th liner scoring 9 goals in 19 games, or 0.47 per game, which paces for a 39-goal season.
Even who he played with in the lineup didn’t make a major impact. Howden was most successful scoring goals with Tomas Hertl (0.38 goals per game), while best with Mark Stone scoring points (0.67 points per game). The dropoff from playing with Jack Eichel or Stone compared to William Karlsson or Nic Roy was minimal, including in the postseason.
Drilling deeper into Howden’s goals and assists shows very little reliance on linemates too.
| Goal assisted by #21 | Primary Assist | Secondary Assist | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saad | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Barbashev | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Eichel | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Kolesar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Stone | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Hague | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dorofeyev | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Laczynski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hertl | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Karlsson | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Whitecloud | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pietrangelo | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| McNabb | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Hanifin | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Theodore | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Pearson | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Kolesar | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
No one scored more than two goals assisted by Howden, and only Alex Pietrangelo and Karlsson had three primary assists on Howden’s goals (there were three unassisted goals too).
These numbers have to be music to the ears of Bruce Cassidy. He knows that no matter where he places Howden in the lineup, he’ll get the same production. It makes Howden one of the more unique players on the VGK roster and even if he can’t ever reach his new career high of 23 goals, he’ll remain an excellent value player to have on the roster.
ThG
Howdy is da man !
Now which one of these is the boards ranting , maniac poster here that cries and moans about the same thing over and over and over again. Like a broken record, with fake agitation. Which one , vote for one. Is it no1 , no2 , no3 no4 or no 5 ?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8sNtPuI5X4c?feature=share
TS
WHY, ,IT’S Y-O-U, NO- NUTS!! YOU’RE DESCRIBING YOURSELF! Y-O-U RANT ABOUT THE S-A-M-E THINGS EVERY SINGLE DAY!!
IS THAT A TRICK QUESTION???
ThG
the one trick pony KAREN pops up again, only one position: HATE.
Stuck like a broken record.
Go stalk someone else loser.
The hockey God
bha ha ha ha ha , tell the karen to go fuck themselves!
Like a broken record- good one. Stuck on STUPID.
TS
Yet it is YOU who spreads his ” DAILY DOSE OF MAGGOT HATE” every single day. WHO STARTS THE HATE, HENRY???
Come on, little man, look in your mirror. You KNOW you’re the MAGGOT DISRUPTOR, Henry
H2Opolo
We need to put him in goal
Emmanuel
Another way to look at Howdens past season is that theres no rhyme or reason for his ONE good season in his career.
He will almost certainly regress next season to his 8 goal/15 assist norm and middling defense.
That being said said he is a cheap 4th line veteran, just dont expect too much.
Also alarms should go off when any player is referred to as : “swiss army knife”/“a great locker room presence”/“mentor to the young players”, its practically a guarantee that player is sub mediocre.
If you clog up the roster with these types VGK will turn into the Blue Jackets West.
hdbiker7851
It’s pretty interesting he could very well be a player type that Panthers use – check out the Panther roster not heavy spenders on the next shining available jewel. They obviously have a knack for getting a lot without spending a ton. Golden Knight should keep that formula in mind. Find Bennett, Reinhart, Marchand type guys and pass on the Marner a better investment and bang for the buck. VGK has to many expensive contracts already.
Pistol Pete
“They obviously have a knack for getting a lot without spending a ton.”
hdbiker7851, you might want to take a look at Florida’s spending on PuckPedia. Not a lot different than ours. All these top contenders push the cap to the limit. Bear in mind FLA’s cap space is higher than the VGK because Bennett and Ekblad are about to become UFA’s. You’ll see that including Ekblad that FLA has about the same number of $7m+ salaries as the VGK. Bobrovsky is $10m. What Florida did so well was filling out their bottom six with with the right players at depth player prices. All top teams do this FLA just caught a break with the right personnel plus they made an astute trade for the $7m D Seth Jones and Nate Schmidt was good catch as well. Good management.
knights fan in minny
samsonov to test free agency See ya
JB
I don’t know why anyone would speak against Howie. He plays hard every game. Period!
Larry
JB I totally agree, he may not reach that 23 goals again but he is a very useful bottom 6 winger/center on a very friendly team contract as well.
VGK fan
Couldnt agree more with that
Emmanuel
My favorite stat is ONE goal in 42 games on 20-21 & the VGK front office says “thats THE guy we need!!!”
Games – goals- assists
2018-19 New York Rangers 66 6 17
2019-20 New York Rangers 70 9 10
2020-21 New York Rangers 42 1 6
2021-22 Vegas Golden Knights 47 9 11
2022-23 Vegas Golden Knights 54 6 7
2023-24 Vegas Golden Knights 72 8 11
2024-25 Vegas Golden Knights 80 23 17
knights fan in minny
Any interest in Tanner Jeannot good size probably come cheap for bottom 6 play the physical game
Emmanuel
And some advanced stats:
Corsi – Corsi relative ( the Fenwicks WORSE)
18/19 43.7 -2.2
19/20 35.8 !!! -13.8 !!!
20/21. 40.4. -10.3
This is when VGK decided, we need THIS guy!
21/22 47.5. -4.4
22/23. 41.0. -8.7
23/24 40.8. -9.9
And of course……his legendary career season
24/25 46.7 -5.4
Just so you all understand IN HIS BEST SEASON hes basically voiding Jack Eichel.
Eichel+Howden=2 Barbashevs
Our best player plus Howden equals 2 average VGK forwards.
ThG
Slap Shot, and hockey player, actor RIP
Billy Charlebois
The sports world is mourning the loss of former NHL player Guido Tenesi. He was 71.
Tenesi rose to stardom after he portrayed Billy Charlebois in the sports comedy film “Slap Shot” in 1977. American Hockey League franchise, the Hershey Bears, offered condolences on Thursday.
“We’re saddened to learn of the passing of Guido Tenesi, a member of our roster during the 1974 Calder Cup championship, and was known to many more for his role as Billy Charlebois in the classic hockey film “Slapshot,” the Bears wrote in a social media post. “Our hearts are with his family, friends, and teammates.”
ThG
I bet the resident Karen was the sales person in this video.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1395936778221027
TS
..
More preemptive ATTACKS ON OTHERS, HUH HENRY??
You seem to be soooooooo offended, Man- Child
What’s the matter?? YOU DISH YOUR EXCREMENT OUT EVERY DAY, BUT ARE SO BENT OUT OF SHAPE WHEN I CALL YOU OUT FOR IT, R IGHT, HENRY?? OH, SNAP!! DOUBLE SNAP!!!!
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, CRY, LITTLE MAN, STOMP THOSE FEET OF YOURS!! WAAAAAAAAA, HENRY’S WITTLE FEELINGS ARE HURT!!!!
TOO BAD WITYLE MAN- CHILD NEEDS INVISIBLE FRIENDS TO DO HIS FIGHTING FOR HIM. R-E-A-L MEN AND WOMEN STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES. YOU DO NOT. IN THE R-E-A-L WORLD, YOU’RE A P-U-S-S-Y!! MEOW!!!!!