5 great story lines involving ex-Rangers
By Steve Paulus
Should they have given up on Brett Howden?
On July 17, the Rangers made two trades, acquiring Barclay Goodrow from the Lightning, and sending Brett Howden to the Vegas Golden Knights for a fourth round pick. Ranger fans have to hope that it was the trade for Goodrow, who they later signed as a free agent, that will be the one that NHL observers will be talking about when the season is over.
When Howden came to New York in the Ryan McDonagh trade in 2018, he was seen as a key component, a first round draft pick who had character, leadership abilities and a scoring touch. He got off to a hot start with the Rangers with four goals and 10 points in his first 17 games. In the next 161 games he scored 12 goals and 23 points including a stretch of 37 straight games when he didn’t have a goal.
Ranger fans were perplexed by the ice time that Howden received as Coach David Quinn appeared to be enamored of Howden’s defensive play and penalty killing. While he was one of the better Rangers when it came to winning faceoffs, his lack of offense was a killer. Don’t forget that his only goal in 42 games last season was an empty net tally.
Considering that the Rangers made another deal with Vegas this summer, you could almost say that the Rangers traded Howden and a 2022 third round pick for Ryan Reaves and a 2022 fourth round pick. We’ll see how that works out.
When it comes to the Golden Knights depth chart, Howden looks to not make the top twelve and his status was not helped by their acquisition of Nolan Patrick. If he ends up in the AHL, Ranger fans will be very happy to say “I told you so.”
Next, a player they chose to lose.