Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/35a3c788-bbb6-4c0e-b1cb-cbb14e48d0bc.jpeg] Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images The 2026 NHL Playoffs have marked Brett Howden’s coming-out party. With the Vegas Golden Knights two games away from winning the Stanley Cup, Howden currently leads all players in the playoffs with 13 goals. There’s no doubt that Howden has been an integral piece for the Golden Knights through their playoff run thus far, but what many people may not know is how he got to Vegas in the first place. Howden was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft, but he was traded to the New York Rangers as part of the deal that sent Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to Tampa Bay in 2018. He ultimately spent three seasons with the Rangers, playing in a total of 178 games and recording 16 goals, 33 assists, and 49 points. Shortly after being hired as the Rangers’ president and general manager in 2021, Chris Drury traded Howden to the Golden Knights in exchange for defenseman Nick DeSimone and a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. The Rangers eventually used that 2022 fourth-round pick to select Noah Laba. Over his first three seasons in Vegas, Howden failed to record over 20 points, but he had a career year during the 2024-25 campaign, posting 23 goals, 17 assists, and 40 points. Now, playing on a line alongside Mitch Marner and William Karlsson, the 28-year-old forward has found his offensive groove and could be on his way to winning both the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy. “I think he's in the moment,” Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella said of Howden. I just think he likes the situation he's in. I think the line's been good. That line, once we put it together, just connected. I don't think he's afraid of a damn thing, as far as playoffs, what comes with it, the flows of it. I just think he feels that good about himself.”
