VGK’s Swiss Army Knife, Brett Howden, Scored In Every Role He Played In

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.

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.

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.