#2 Brett Howden
Team: Vegas Golden Knights
Age: 24
Position: Centre
2021-22 Stats: 47 games, 9 goals, 20 points, 108 hits
Qualifying Offer: $929,250
Potential: Third line centre on Toronto Maple Leafs
Another victim of the Vegas cap crunch may be Brett Howden. Having missed the last 15 games of the season with an upper body injury may not help his cause in Vegas either.
Howden was drafted in the 1st round (27th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played three seasons with the New York Rangers and was great during first season with the Golden Knights before his injury.
Brett Howden would be a great third line centre for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s developed an excellent two-way game. He could bring more offense to the Leafs third line without sacrificing anything defensively.
There’s no reason to believe he won’t bounce back from his injury, but his price tag would likely stay pretty low on the open market because of it. The Leafs seem to gravitate toward players like this who seem close to a break out after a little more development.