The Golden Knights would be wise to keep Brett Howden around for one clutch reason

Kelly McCrimmon is no stranger to making a trade. The Vegas Golden Knights general manager loves to fix his roster and shuffle the pieces around, tinkering with it to give Golden Knights fans the best team possible.

The goal? Bring in superstars such as Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel, giving Golden Knights fans something to cheer for. After all, that's what winners do in today's landscape. They're not trying to grab media attention just to plaster their faces on every television screen. At least, that's not Bill Foley's objective.

Some people have brought up Brett Howden's name in trade speculation, particularly within the realm. There's a good reason for that as well, considering that he doesn't have a no-move clause and his value is increasing with every good season.

However, the Golden Knights would be wise to hold onto his contract for a little bit longer. Why, you ask? Well, recency bias certainly has something to do with it. He did perform at a high level and led the Golden Knights to within two games of their second Stanley Cup.

The Vegas Golden Knights need Brett Howden for offensive depth during the Stanley Cup playoffs

The 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs were the platform on which Howden made his presence felt. He led the NHL in goals scored during this session with 14 and was fifth in total points with 18. But that isn't the only thing that he excelled at.

During the Stanley Cup Final, Howden made his presence felt in the xGF% (without the empty net) department. In fact, he was the third-best player in this regard during the series, notching a xGF% of 57.46.

Of course, he had a similar breakthrough to Pavel Dorofeyev, who scored 12 goals during this season's playoffs. However, the former first round pick also scored a career-high 23 goals during the 2024-25 season. Suddenly, he's become a viable goal scorer for a Golden Knights team that prides themselves on depth.

The cherry on top is his age. Howden is 28 years old and has four more seasons on his current deal. Add in his valuable deal of $2.5 million per season and the deal gets even sweeter.

Who could be better alternatives to trading Brett Howden?

If you're looking at players to trade as opposed to Howden, the usual suspects will come up. Of course, that consists of names like Adin Hill and Tomas Hertl. Some people have even thrown out the idea of getting rid of William Karlsson due to his age and health issues.

But other penny-saving options include Nic Dowd (enters 2026-27 on the last year of his current $3 million AAV deal) and Keegan Kolesar (has two years left on his current $2.5 million AAV deal). Dowd is older than Howden by a mile (Dowd is 36) and Kolesar has been mentioned in some trade scenarios.

Regardless, now isn't the time to trade Brett Howden to another team. Could that discussion be had in the future? Perhaps. However, right now isn't the best time when Howden's value looks tremendous and he's starting to become the clutch player everyone was looking for.

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