In Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, Miles Wood skated at 24.82 miles per hour, the fastest speed of the season in the NHL’s puck and player tracking era.
The previous season’s top speed, set by Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (24.56 mph at New York Rangers on March 22), was surpassed by the 29-year-old’s end-to-end dash to chase down the puck on the forecheck at 7:45 in the third period. The record also beat the previous record for the fastest skating speed in the puck and player tracking era (since 2021-22) set by forward Denis Gurianov (24.60 for Dallas Stars vs. Boston Bruins on Oct. 16, 2021). Wood has the fastest maximum speed of any player in the NHL regular season or Stanley Cup Playoffs throughout the last four seasons.
The list of Avalanche players who have won awards for skating speed this season now includes this outstanding one-game achievement. According to NHL EDGE statistics, defenseman Cale Makar leads his position in 22-plus mph speed bursts (27) and 20-plus mph bursts (206), while center Nathan MacKinnon leads the League in both of these categories this season (83 and 547).
The Avalanche acquired forward Martin Necas from the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this season. He is among the fastest players in the League and ranks third in the NHL overall in 22-plus mph speed bursts (46), fifth in 20-plus mph bursts (358), and has the third-fastest maximum skating speed of the season (24.49 mph on Dec. 5, 2024, while playing for the Hurricanes against the Avalanche).
Together, the Avalanche lead the NHL in both 20-plus mph (2,448) and 22-plus mph (210) speed bursts. Additionally, Wood has excellent forward rankings in the following EDGE stats categories:
• 20-plus mph speed bursts: 127 (80th percentile)
• Speed bursts of 22 mph or more: 22 (97th percentile)
• 10.08 miles is the average skating distance in 60 minutes (86th percentile).
