Rangers re-sign center Brett Howden

The Rangers begin their offseason with a new deal for Howden. 

On Friday morning, the New York Rangers announced a new contract with restricted free agent center Brett Howden.

OFFICIAL: #NYR have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with restricted free agent Brett Howden. pic.twitter.com/MRk4TcPmwv

— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 9, 2021

Howden, 23, had a down year in 2021. He scored once with six assists in 42 games. He posted 23 points in 66 games as a rookie in 2018-18 and scored a career-high nine goals in 70 games in the 2019-20 season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Howden with the 27th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.

The Rangers acquired Howden from the Bolts in the blockbuster trade that sent defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller to Tampa. The Rangers also received defenseman Libor Hájek, forward Vladislav Namestnikov, a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft (Nils Lundkvist) and a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft (Karl Henriksson) in the trade.

The terms of the deal have not yet been released.

Brett Howden, signed 1 year by NYR, is a 4th liner who, uh, is only 23 at least? #NYR pic.twitter.com/7U8ymGZEp5

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 9, 2021

The Rangers have three more RFA forwards to re-sign as the offseason begins: Filip Chytil, Julien Gauthier and Pavel Buchnevich. Hájek, who was acquired in the same trade from Tampa, is also a restricted free agent.

Igor Shesterkin is the final RFA on the Rangers’ NHL Roster.