2024 NHL Draft: Pittsburgh selects Tanner Howe with 46th overall pick

Forward added by the Pens with their second pick

The Penguins made their second selection in the second round of the 2024 NHL draft and picked up Tanner Howe from the WHL. As his hockeydb resume shows, he has been a productive player in juniors for the Regina Pats, including a successful early career stint with former junior teammate Conor Bedard.

A profile from the CHL adds more light on the newest Penguin prospect:

Tanner is a highly-touted prospect heading into the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and his younger brother, Connor, recently signed a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with the Prince Albert Raiders.

NHL Central Scouting has the elder Howe slotted 41st among all North American skaters ahead of the draft- a far cry from how he broke into the Western Hockey League as an undersized fourth-round pick of the Regina Pats.

“I definitely had a chip on my shoulder trying to make that team,” Howe recalled. “I think I was pretty little when I got drafted. That summer I took pretty seriously and gained a lot of weight, got bigger, got stronger.”

Pats Head Coach Brad Herauf, an assistant at the time, recalls Howe making a statement in his first shift in the WHL bubble with a flying body check- prompting then-Head Coach John Paddock to turn to Herauf and declare ‘That kid is going to be a player.’

“(Tanner) wasn’t expected to be there, so that’s how smart he is,” Herauf said. “He’s looking at the lineup, he’s understanding the gameplay. He’s understanding how you help teams win at such a young age, and that was the way he was helping us win. He was 15 years old playing with that spunk. That inspired the rest of our team when you see a 15-year-old fourth-round pick flying around and having six or seven body checks a game and making plays. That’s what he’s done since day one.”

The 5-foot-11, 182-pound forward found great success playing on a line with superstar Connor Bedard for two seasons and learned a lot about preparation and professional habits from the NHL Rookie of the Year nominee.

But this season Howe had to prove what kind of player he was without Bedard.

“There was a lot of talk around that going into the year where he wasn’t going to be there,” Howe added. “I worked on my game to try to round out my game, to play PK, power play, five-on-five and try to produce in all areas. I think I had a pretty good year and I think I proved a lot of them wrong.”

His coach will sign off on that sentiment.

Howe earned the team captaincy as a 17-year-old and led the Pats with 28 goals (including two game-winners and a shorthanded tally) and 49 assists for 77 points in 68 games.

Despite Regina being in a building year in the junior hockey cycle, he also worked to keep his teammates engaged and didn’t give his opponents an inch on the ice while getting under their skin.

Howe models his game after CHL alumni like Brad Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk, cunning goal scorers who will rile up the opposition while sporting a devious grin.

In a lot of ways the above fits many of Kyle Dubas’ checklist. A smaller but productive player with a good hockey IQ and high motor. The Penguins need all the young wingers with upside that they can grab at this point and Howe will be counted to be in a future wave of talent over the years as he grows and develops.