Isaac Howard is a high-end offensive creator whose hallmark appears to be his playmaking and ability to facilitate his team’s offensive attack. He is a strong skater and has a bit of an edge, allowing him to be effective in 50/50 battles and creating opportunities out of the cycle because he isn’t afraid to go into the high-traffic areas with the puck. He has a quality shot, and shows strong patience with the puck on his stick. Whether it be out of the cycle, or off the rush, he spots a lane he wants to attack and has the ability and confidence to attack that lane and create a quality chance for himself or a teammate. Confidence is never an issue with him, as he thinks he’s the best player whenever he’s on the ice and oftentimes his ability can back that notion up. In other words, he has a swagger to his game. When you examine him closely, there are two areas that may bring you some pause about him as a prospect. Those areas are his consistency and tendency to force a play rather than taking what the defense gives him. As he progresses closer to the professional ranks, he will need to get better at risk-management, and learn to take the easy play rather than forcing something that isn’t there – otherwise NHL defenders will eat him up and cause him to turn the puck over at a high-rate. The other thing is his consistency. When he is on, he’s arguably the best player on the ice. As he develops and matures he will have to learn to play at the same level on a nightly basis, otherwise his ceiling at the NHL level could be limited. Howard can be a top-six winger at the NHL level if he can level out the up-and-down swings, but because of his consistency issue he may end up being more of a complimentary middle-six player.

– FCHockey’s 2022 NHL Draft Guide