Golden Knights name Hill, Howden and Kolesar as recipients of 2025 team awards

The Vegas Golden Knights handed out the club’s annual team awards after the conclusion of Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators, naming Adin Hill, Brett Howden and Keegan Kolesar as the 2025 recipients of the First Star Award, Seventh Player Award and Vegas Strong Service Award, respectively.

The Golden Knights (49-22-9) clinched their fourth Pacific Division title in eight years in the final home game of the 2024-25 regular season.

The awards were announced in a ceremony following the game.

First Star Award — Adin Hill

The First Star Award is based on the three “stars of the game” who are chosen after every home game. Hill was one of the three stars in a home game 10 times this season and was the first star in four of those contests.

Hill, who signed a six-year extension carrying an AAV of $6.25 million last month, is having a career season with 32 wins, 50 starts, a 2.47 goals-against average and four shutouts.

He is 32-13-5 with a .906 save percentage, and he set a franchise record for most wins on home ice with a 20-6-2 record. Hill has been stellar since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, going 9-1-1 before winning three of his last five starts for an overall record of 12-3-1.

Hill backstopped the Golden Knights to the 2023 Stanley Cup championship, going 11-4 with a 2.17 goals-against average, .932 save percentage and two shutouts. After stepping in for the injured Laurent Brossoit, Hill became the first goalie in NHL history to win 10 postseason games without playing in the first round. Vegas originally acquired Hill from San Jose in exchange for a fourth-round pick.

Previous winners of the First Star Award include Jack Eichel (2023-24, 2022-23), Evgenii Dadonov (2021-22), Max Pacioretty (2020-21), Reilly Smith (2019-20), Marc-Andre Fleury and Cody Eakin (2018-19) and William Karlsson (2017-18).

Seventh Player Award — Brett Howden

The Seventh Player Award is voted on by fans and is annually awarded to the player who most exceeds expectations on the ice. This year’s three nominees were Howden, Kolesar and Brayden McNabb, with Howden taking home the 2025 honors.

Howden entered the 2024-25 campaign with 23 total goals in three seasons with Vegas. His equalizer in the second period of Saturday’s game was his 23rd of this season alone. Prior to this year, his career best was nine, which he set in 2019-20 with the New York Rangers and matched in his first year with Vegas (2021-22).

He is one of five players with more than 20 goals this season and is tied for second on the roster with four game-winners. He has taken on a larger role with the team this year after Vegas’ extensive offseason turnover.

“I gained some confidence and just kept rolling with it,” Howden said after Saturday’s win. “I was given a lot of opportunities. With that comes confidence from the coach. When you’re surrounded by such good players here, whoever you’re playing with, you’re playing with good players. It just goes to credit the work that the management does here. I think it opened my eyes a lot this year to see what I can accomplish.”

Howden, who is a bit of a Swiss Army Knife for the Golden Knights, was originally acquired from the Rangers in exchange for Nick DeSimone and a 2022 fourth-round pick. He skated with Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson for the majority of the 2023 Stanley Cup run, scoring five goals and 10 points in 22 contests, including the overtime game-winner in Game 1 against Dallas.

Previous winners of the Seventh Player Award include McNabb (2023-24), William Carrier (2022-23), Nicolas Roy (2021-22), Alec Martinez (2020-21), Stephenson (2019-20), Ryan Reaves (2018-19) and Karlsson (2017-18).

Vegas Strong Service Award — Keegan Kolesar

The Vegas Strong Service Award is annually given to the player who is “most involved in serving and giving back to the Vegas community.”

Kolesar has been particularly involved with Adam’s Place, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to providing grief support to children, teens and families who are experiencing loss. Thanks to Kolesar, members of Adam’s Place attended every game at T-Mobile Arena this season, and he hosted the group at practice and held a meet-and-greet in December.

In addition, Kolesar “participated in the design and construction of a KABOOM! Playground funded by the VGK Foundation at the Donna Street Community Center in North Las Vegas,” the team announcement stated. “Kolesar regularly spends time with members of the community at ball hockey clinics or meeting with them after practices or games. He was a consistent presence at the team’s Holiday Knights of Giving initiatives in December.”

Kolesar is also having a career season, with 12 goals and 29 points. He is tied for his career high in assists with 17 and has a career-best three game-winning goals this season. Like Howden, Kolesar has taken on a larger role with the team this season both on and off the ice, becoming a more vocal leader and contributing up and down the lineup.

Vegas traded a 2017 second-round pick to land Kolesar from Columbus back in 2017. He spent parts of three seasons with the AHL Chicago Wolves and even had a 20-game stint with Vegas’ ECHL affiliate before making the jump to a consistent role at the NHL level in 2020-21.

Kolesar was a key member of Vegas’ fourth line in the 2023 Cup run, scoring two goals and five points, including a goal and an assist in Vegas’ decisive Game 6 win against Dallas.

This is the first award for Kolesar in five seasons with the Golden Knights.

Previous winners of the Vegas Strong Service Award include Eichel (2023-24), Smith (2022-23), Stone (2021-22), Shea Theodore (2020-21), Pacioretty and Paul Stastny (2019-20) and Deryk Engelland (2018-19, 2017-18).