The Brett Howden trade was not a mistake

Brett Howden is having the postseason of a lifetime. Yes, you read that correctly. No, this isn’t some alternate reality where he’s doing this as a member of the New York Rangers, sadly. Brett Howden, the Vegas Golden Knight, is having an incredible postseason. It’s led to a pretty impressive revisionist history movement among Ranger fans, lamenting the Brett Howden trade and again pointing fingers at the organization as a whole and Chris Drury. We aren’t fans of Drury, that’s been well documented, but the Brett Howden trade was not a mistake, no matter the hot takes out there.

Howden was absolutely atrocious in his entire tenure with the New York Rangers. He was an unplayable player who displayed none of the qualities the Rangers claimed he possessed when they acquired him as part of the horrible trade that sent Ryan McDonagh and JT Miller to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Howden’s best and brightest accomplishment for the Rangers was bringing back the draft pick that the Rangers used to draft Noah Laba in the fourth round.

Many are claiming they knew all along that the Rangers shouldn’t have moved Howden for so little. Others are saying in hindsight it was a horrendous trade and another example of New York’s inability to develop prospects. The former is an absurd argument. The latter has some validity to it, but I struggle with this one. Many of those partaking in revisionist history seem to forget that the pick acquired in the Brett Howden trade was used on Noah Laba.

Howden has not exactly been a world beater for Vegas. He has scored over 22 points in a season a grand total of one time. He scored over 12 goals a grand total of one time. While Howden’s game has improved in the postseason, that hasn’t always been the case. Going into this postseason, Howden scored 15 points in 40 playoff games for Vegas. His run of 14 goals this postseason (on 37 shots) is fueled by an absurd and unsustainable 38% shooting bender. Two months of unsustainable play does not make the Brett Howden trade a mistake.

It’s difficult to blame the Rangers for this so-called amazing development of a player that in reality has not been that valuable for the Golden Knights. Sure, the Rangers could have developed him better. Maybe they would have had a valuable third or fourth liner. But those players are replaceable, as Howden is, even after this incredible run. If anything, Vegas would benefit from their own Brett Howden trade with his value sky high.

The Brett Howden trade is making for some funny arguments

Moving back to the other point, anyone who thought the Brett Howden trade, netting a fourth round pick in return, coming off 49 points in 178 games with poor possession metrics was bad was a buffoon at that point in time. Anyone claiming in hindsight the Rangers should have known better is equally silly. The Brett Howden trade was a good trade at the time and just because Howden has erupted in a singular postseason, it doesn’t change that fact. When you have a player who can’t score and doesn’t provide much of anything else, it’s always a good idea to get an asset back for them.

The Rangers have made plenty of mistakes over the years and there are many reasons to laugh at the Rangers. Brett Howden is not one of them. Well, trading him to Vegas wasn’t. Perhaps targeting him and Libor Hajek in one of the worst trades in Rangers history was. But that’s been beaten to death.