There are two different Brett Howdens on the Rangers. The first Brett Howden is what we see on the ice and on the score sheet. The second Brett Howden is what David Quinn saw every night for the last three seasons. Much like the last two seasons, these two versions of Brett Howden couldn’t be further apart.
In 42 games this season, the on-ice Howden put up a line of 1-6-7, missing the last five games of the season with a broken foot. The 82-game pace of 2-12-14, which would have been a pretty down year for a player who, quite frankly, hasn’t been that good. Part of his down season was shooting just 3% on 33 shots for the season, so that does need to be taken into account.
On-ice impacts
I’m not going to harp on Howden’s impacts too long here, since we all know he was a net-negative across the board. What I do want to point out is that his defensive impact wasn’t nearly as bad as projected. A net-4% negative isn’t good, but it isn’t as bad as we thought. It’s also a significant improvement from last year’s 11% negative on defense.
A major discussion point among the beat writers was that Howden was a key penalty killer for the Rangers. Howden was fourth on the Rangers in PK TOI with 82 minutes, and he basically helped the Rangers tread water. Like with his defensive impacts, his struggles on the PK was largely overstated. The Rangers weren’t awful with him on the ice, and weren’t significantly better with him off the ice.
It’s worth noting that on the penalty kill, Howden’s xGA/60 of 6.62 is actually better than Kevin Rooney’s xGA/60 of 6.79. It’s marginal, but it’s still better.
None of this is to say that Howden is good. He’s not, and I think we can all agree with that. However this season, he was not nearly as bad –especially defensively– as perceived.
Final Grade
Brett Howden’s 2021 report card grade needs to be based in reality, not what Quinn and the coaching staff saw in him. It’s clear there is a major disconnect, and it may be because Howden is a straight line player that goes full speed after every puck. That’s something Quinn drilled in his players, and it’s why Howden kept playing, even with no tangible results. You can’t fault Howden for trying, and you also have to recognize that his defensive results weren’t atrocious, just bad.
Brett Howden 2021 Report Card Grade: D
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