The Top 25 countdown continues with Tanner Howe, who is preparing for his first full pro season since undergoing ACL surgery last April.
Catch up on the previous entries for this year:
Pensburgh Top 25 Under 25: Graduates and Departed players in 2025
Top 25 Under 25: The best of the rest
#25: Chase Pietila, D
#24: Ryan Miller, F
#23: Finn Harding, D
#22: Peyton Kettles, D
#21: Zam Plante, F
#21: Brady Peddle, D
#20: Melvin Fernstrom, RW
#19: Tanner Howe, LW/C
2025 Ranking: #17
Age: 20 (February 28, 2006)
Acquired via: 2024 draft, second round, No. 46 overall pick
Height/weight: 6’11”, 183 lbs
Howe was initially a projected first-round
pick when playing alongside Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard in his 2022-23 season with the WHL’s Regina Pats.
His stock fell after his production dropped the next season in Bedard’s absence, allowing the Penguins to snag him in the second round.
Howe’s career since then has been impacted by injuries, including a shoulder injury early in the 2024-25 WHL season.
The forward then suffered an ACL injury while representing the Calgary Hitmen in last season’s WHL playoffs. He underwent knee surgery in April 2025.
That kept Howe on the sideline for most of his first pro season before he ultimately made his Wilkes/Barre Scranton debut in February.
“I think it was a mental test,” Howe said in February about his nine-month recovery process (h/t InsideAHLHockey’s Tony Androck). “I think going into the offseason, I wanted to focus on getting bigger and stronger, obviously rehab made a little delay on it.”
Despite that delay, Howe was a regular contributor in his shortened first season with the WBS Penguins. He scored in his fourth AHL game and went on to record 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 27 regular-season contests.
Howe then contributed five points (three goals, two assists) in 14 playoff games while playing a key role in the WBS Penguins’ run to the Eastern Conference Final.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton assistant general manager Amanda Kessel praised Howe for performing as a “versatile” player for the AHL team despite the delayed start to his pro career.
“To see him come into this year, a first-year young pro coming off an ACL surgery, he didn’t really struggle,” Kessel said, per Penguins team reporter Michelle Crechiolo. “I think it’s credit to him, he works extremely hard. Everyone loves the kid.
Kessel continued, per Crechiolo: “I think he’s versatile, he could play on the first line or the fourth line and be effective. He can play penalty kill, power play. He’s somebody who can play in multiple different roles and excel at them. He’s a warrior, and somebody that is a winner, and you want on your team.”
Howe was earning comparisons to the Florida Panthers’ Brad Marchand around the time the Penguins drafted him two years ago. As Bedard told The Athletic’s Sarah Jean Maher in 2024: “On the ice, he’s a bit of a prick.”
He started to again take on that pest-like role while becoming a regular problem for netfront opponents during the WBS Penguins’ playoff run. More time to get back to full strength on his surgically-reconstructed knee could allow Howe lean even more into that identity next season.
The Penguins will hope a full offseason to put on weight, gain strength and continue adjusting to the pros will allow for better evaluation of how close Howe is to breaking into the NHL.
