| Position: | Left Wing |
| Shoots: | Right |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 2 |
| Weight Lb: | 172 |
| Played For: | Boston Bruins Florida Panthers Columbus Blue Jackets HIFK |
| Birth Date: | July 2, 1970 |
| Birth Place: | North Ridgeville, Ohio, U.S. |
| Career Start: | 1993 |
| Career End: | 2008 |
| Draft: | 133rd overall |
| Draft Year: | 1989 |
| Draft Team: | New York Islanders |
Brett Alan Harkins (born July 2, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey left wing, who played for 18 years. He played in the National Hockey League in four stints with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Columbus Blue Jackets between 1994 and 2002. As of January 2020, Harkins had served as a college-level scout for the Boston Bruins for over four seasons.[1]
Harkins is also the younger brother of Todd Harkins, who played for the Hartford Whalers and Calgary Flames.
As a youth, Harkins played in the 1981 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament along with his brother Todd, as a member of a minor ice hockey team from Cleveland.[2]
Harkins attended St. Edward High School, located in Lakewood, Ohio, a western suburb of Cleveland. He was an integral member of the 1986 Ohio High School Athletic Association State "big school" hockey champions. However, he would leave St. Edward to attend St. Andrews High School north of Toronto before joining the Junior A Brockville Braves. He played in 38 games for Detroit Compuware Ambassadors of the NAJHL in 1988-89, scoring 69 points. He would play collegiately for Bowling Green State University from 1989 to 1993. In 2013, Harkins served as the head coach of the U-16 Midget Minor Cleveland Barons, assisted by Johnny Goebel, Jeremy Bronson, and his brother Donnie Harkins.[3]
Harkins was drafted in the seventh round, 133rd overall, by the New York Islanders in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. He played 78 games in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Columbus Blue Jackets. He last played professionally in the Swedish and Finnish leagues until his retirement 2008,[4] ending his professional playing career with Rögle BK of HockeyAllsvenskan.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||||
| 1985–86 | St. Edward High School | HS-OH | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | St. Andrew's College | CISAA | 30 | 47 | 60 | 107 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Brockville Braves | CJHL | 55 | 21 | 55 | 76 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | NAHL | 38 | 23 | 46 | 69 | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Bowling Green State University | CCHA | 41 | 11 | 43 | 54 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Bowling Green State University | CCHA | 40 | 22 | 38 | 60 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Bowling Green State University | CCHA | 34 | 8 | 39 | 47 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Bowling Green State University | CCHA | 35 | 19 | 28 | 47 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Adirondack Red Wings | AHL | 80 | 22 | 47 | 69 | 23 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 1994–95 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 80 | 23 | 69 | 92 | 32 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 4 | ||
| 1995–96 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Carolina Monarchs | AHL | 55 | 23 | 71 | 94 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 44 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 28 | 9 | 31 | 40 | 32 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 1997–98 | Cleveland Lumberjacks | IHL | 80 | 32 | 62 | 94 | 82 | 10 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 14 | ||
| 1998–99 | Cleveland Lumberjacks | IHL | 74 | 20 | 67 | 87 | 84 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Cleveland Lumberjacks | IHL | 76 | 20 | 50 | 70 | 79 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 6 | ||
| 2000–01 | Houston Aeros | IHL | 81 | 16 | 64 | 80 | 51 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 2001–02 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 25 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 22 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Skellefteå AIK | SWE-2 | 33 | 15 | 23 | 38 | 77 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 6 | ||
| 2003–04 | HIFK | FIN | 52 | 10 | 49 | 59 | 65 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 12 | ||
| 2004–05 | HIFK | FIN | 52 | 4 | 30 | 34 | 83 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2005–06 | Jokerit | FIN | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Skellefteå AIK | SWE-2 | 26 | 4 | 30 | 34 | 77 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 10 | ||
| 2006–07 | Skellefteå AIK | SWE | 32 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Rögle BK | SWE-2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 16 | ||
| 2007–08 | Rögle BK | SWE-2 | 35 | 3 | 24 | 27 | 67 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 | ||
| AHL totals | 265 | 81 | 238 | 319 | 144 | 33 | 11 | 29 | 40 | 8 | ||||
| NHL totals | 78 | 6 | 30 | 36 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||