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Brett Howden

#21 · Centre · Vegas Golden Knights

Born Mar 29, 1998 in Oakbank, Manitoba, CAN (age 28) · 6'2", 204 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 27th overall in 2016 by TBL (round 1)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2022-23

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Anton Lundell FLA · 1 P in 4 GP Barrett Hayton UTA · 1 P in 4 GP Blake Lizotte PIT · 1 P in 4 GP Christian Dvorak PHI · 1 P in 4 GP Cole Smith CHI · 1 P in 4 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

0102030402018-19: 23 points2318-192019-20: 19 points1919-202020-21: 7 points720-212021-22: 20 points2021-222022-23: 13 points1322-232023-24: 19 points1923-242024-25: 40 points4024-252025-26: 22 points2225-262026-27: 1 points126-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2018-19 NYR 66 6 17 23 -16 14 74 64 0.35 $863K
2019-20 NYR 70 9 10 19 -11 28 64 69 0.27 $863K
2020-21 NYR 42 1 6 7 -2 11 33 57 0.17 $863K
2021-22 VGK 47 9 11 20 9 12 39 62 0.43 $885K
2022-23 VGK 54 6 7 13 5 55 53 107 0.24 $1.5M
2023-24 VGK 72 8 11 19 -11 39 76 86 0.26 $1.9M
2024-25 VGK 80 23 17 40 17 46 125 121 0.50 $1.9M
2025-26 VGK 58 12 10 22 -9 41 66 100 0.38 $2.5M
2026-27 VGK 4 0 1 1 2 2 7 5 0.25 $2.5M
9 seasons Career 493 74 90 164 -16 248 537 671 0.33

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2019-20 NYR 3 0 0 0 -3 4 2 15 0.00
2022-23 VGK 22 5 5 10 4 31 30 63 0.45
2023-24 VGK 7 1 1 2 1 0 7 23 0.29
2024-25 VGK 11 3 0 3 -2 4 15 36 0.27
2025-26 VGK 22 14 4 18 11 6 41 64 0.82
5 seasons Playoffs 65 23 10 33 11 45 95 201 0.51

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
4 0 1 1 2 2 7 5 0.25 0.0 16:20

Contract

$2.5MCap hitends in 2030, then UFA
$2.5MCap dollars per point1 points in 4 games
$676KCap dollars per goal above replacement3.7 goals above replacement, projected
$4.3MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$1.8MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over all of it: what the player has done so far, plus the games left at a rate taken from his last three seasons and this one. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 647 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov 22, 2024, as an extension of the contract he was on: 5 years and $12.5M, beginning in 2025-26. It runs through 2029-30, with 3 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2025-26 $2.5M $1M $2M $3M
2026-27 $2.5M $2.5M $0 $2.5M
2027-28 $2.5M $2.5M $0 $2.5M
2028-29 $2.5M $2.5M $0 $2.5M
2029-30 $2.5M $2M $0 $2M

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Nov 22, 2024 Vegas Golden Knights Extension 2025-26 to 2029-30 5 $12.5M $2.5M
Jul 19, 2023 Vegas Golden Knights New contract 2023-24 to 2024-25 2 $3.8M $1.9M
Jul 13, 2022 Vegas Golden Knights New contract 2022-23 to 2022-23 1 $1.5M $1.5M
Jul 9, 2021 New York Rangers Extension 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $885K $885K
Dec 27, 2016 Tampa Bay Lightning Entry-level 2018-19 to 2020-21 signed for 2016-17, slid 3 $2.775M $863K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2026-27 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 4 games (+0.5 goals above replacement), plus the 67 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

+3.7Goals above replacement249th of 647 skaters, 177th of 422 forwards
+0.6Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+0.8Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 422 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence-0.3 45th percentileEven-strength defence+0.7 65th percentilePower play-0.2 33rd percentilePenalty kill+0.3 85th percentilePenalties+0.2 44th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance.

-4-202462018-192020-212022-232024-252026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

51.2Corsi for %43 attempts for, 41 against
-6.7CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
62.1Expected goals for %2.7 expected for, 1.7 against
+3.2xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
54.2Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
75.0Goals for %3 for, 1 against
108.4PDO14.3% shooting + 94.1% saves
15Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
William Karlsson · Mitch Marner · Brett Howden437:5850.860.81-1
Mark Stone · Jack Eichel · Brett Howden25:5462.562.11-0
Nic Dowd · Brett Howden · Marc Gatcomb33:1966.7100.01-0
Mark Stone · William Karlsson · Brett Howden31:16100.00.00-0

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.6Expected goalsfrom 14 unblocked attempts
-1.6Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 1.45 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 11.3% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -1.6 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.511.5Expected 1.6Goals 0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Oct 6, 2026 @ SEA W 6-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 15:51
Oct 4, 2026 @ VAN W 3-2 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 17:16
Oct 2, 2026 vs ANA L 3-4 0 1 1 0 0 3 1 14:58
Sep 29, 2026 vs CHI W 5-2 0 0 0 1 0 3 2 17:16