Tanner Howe

April 2024 – Tanner Howe’s Regina Pats were one of the worst teams in the WHL in 2024. Yet Howe still managed to have a productive season, though perhaps not giving him much room to showcase the upside that had him so highly ranked earlier in the year. Howe’s best—and most projectable—qualities are his abilities to play through contact as a smaller player, create offensive zone entries, play a possession game along the boards, and funnel to the net to bang in greasy goals. Howe’s showed flashes of dynamic playmaking and puckhandling upside, but even without these, Howe still projects as a dependable, tenacious middle-six winger with scoring upside. Luke Sweeney (April Rankings: 37th)

November 2023 – With Connor Bedard having graduated to the NHL, Howe was expected to step up and take a bigger role with the Regina Pats this season. And boy did he ever.

The undersized winger is now the captain of his team at 18 years old, and by far their leader in production and overall on-ice impact. His 28 points in 21 games so far with the Pats place him five points clear at the top of the team’s scoreboard. Often their lone forward when defending a 5 on 3 power play, often out in the last minute of the game to win a key faceoff or defend the lead, Howe is the go-to guy in Regina in defensive situations as well.

With solid skating, a high-end motor and surprisingly good board battle mechanics, Howe always outworks his opponents along the boards. His puck skills need refining, but he should easily work his way into an NHL middle six in the near future. Hadi Kalakeche (November rankings: 22nd overall)