Michigan State’s junior forward Isaac Howard has been selected as this year’s 2024-25 Hobey Baker Award winner as college hockey’s top player.
Howard becomes MSU’s first Hobey Baker award winner since 2001 when Ryan Miller took home top honours. The 5’11” winger registered 52 points (26G, 26A) across 37 contests to lead the nation in points per game (1.41).
The 21 year old earned the award over fellow finalists Zeev Buium (Denver), and Ryan Leonard (Boston College). Originally drafted 31st overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Howard announced that he would be returning for his senior year at MSU earlier this month. As a result, Tampa may begin exploring trading his draft rights to another club in the near future rather than risk losing him for nothing.
“I think the Lightning know that the odds are now against them and that he probably is not going to be part of their organization, but nobody said anything bad about him,” Elliotte Friedman said on his podcast. “Basically, what I was told, because nobody really wanted to get into mud slinging, they just didn’t see eye to eye. … Whatever the path Howard saw and the path the Lightning saw, it didn’t line up.”
Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, teams can hold onto the rights of drafted NCAA prospects for only four seasons. As a result, Howard can technically become a free agent as of August 15th, 2026.
Other award winners from the college hockey ranks include Boston College’s Jacob Fowler who took home the Mike Richter award for the nation’s top goaltender. Meanwhile, Boston University freshman Cole Hutson took home the Tim Taylor rookie of the year award.
Boston University will take on Western Michigan in a 6:30pm ET showdown on Saturday, April 12th for the national championship.
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