Miles Wood reached the top skating speed of this season and in the NHL’s puck and player tracking era at 24.82 miles per hour in the Colorado Avalanche’s 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
The 29-year-old’s end-to-end rush to chase down the puck on the forecheck at 7:45 in the third period surpassed the previous best mark from this season, which was held by Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (24.56 mph at New York Rangers on March 22). The mark also surpassed forward Denis Gurianov (24.60 for Dallas Stars at Boston Bruins on Oct. 16, 2021), which was previously the top skating speed of the puck and player tracking era (since 2021-22). No player in the NHL regular season or Stanley Cup Playoffs over the past four seasons has had a faster max speed than Wood.
This impressive single-game feat adds to the list of Avalanche players with skating speed accolades this season. Per NHL EDGE stats, center Nathan MacKinnon leads the entire League in 22-plus mph speed bursts (83) and 20-plus mph bursts (547) this season, while defenseman Cale Makar leads his position in 22-plus mph speed bursts (27) and 20-plus mph bursts (206).
Forward Martin Necas, who was acquired by the Avalanche from the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this season, is also one of the fastest players in the League; he ranks third in the entire NHL in 22-plus mph speed bursts (46), fifth in 20-plus mph bursts (358) and has the third-fastest max skating speed of the season (24.49 mph on Dec. 5, 2024 as member of Hurricanes against Avalanche).
The Avalanche, as a team, lead the NHL in 22-plus mph speed bursts (210) and 20-plus mph bursts (2,448). Wood also ranks highly among forwards in the following EDGE stats categories:
• 20-plus mph speed bursts: 127 (80th percentile)
• 22-plus mph speed bursts: 22 (97th percentile)
• Average skating distance per 60 minutes: 10.08 miles (86th percentile)
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More: EDGE stats for Wood | Avalanche
