The NHL has come a long way in the past twenty years.
Particularly when it comes to analytics. We can grade the performances of players not only on their input on the score sheet, but also with stats such as expected goals, goals saved above replacement, and the quality of chances generated that didn’t find their way into the box score.
During that time, we’ve also starting tracking speed metrics.
While still fairly ambiguous, we now track player speeds and, more notably, when players achieve high-end velocity that could be considered game-breaking. NHL Edge has become a go-to source for raw data if fans and media alike want to find out exactly how fast a player or a team is.
Fun stuff, but there is still a long way to go. Edge provides mostly raw data, so today, we’ll be applying the data to establish which teams are the fastest—and slowest in the NHL.
Quantity
There is something to be said for a team that consistently skates well, even if they don’t hit the high-end markers that can make or break a transition opportunity. Let’s take a look at the raw totals when it comes to the players on any given team qualifying for what is known as a “speed burst”.
Cool, right? We certainly see that some teams are skating much faster than others.
But here’s the catch, and there is a catch: some teams have played a lot less than others. Edmonton, for example, looks like the fastest team in the NHL. Per Edge, they’re in #1 in speed bursts, but they’re also tied for most games played with Calgary and have played more total minutes than anyone if you count overtime.
Let’s look at these totals at the rate of per 60 minutes played. When it comes to totals that measure in the thousands, a couple more games played can account for a lot.
What we’re trying to answer today are two questions:
Who are the fastest teams in the NHL?
Who are the slowest teams in the NHL?
Quality
Here’s how each team looks when we apply it to a per 60 rate.
We see Edmonton drop from first to fifth, we see the Minnesota Wild climb out of the basement, and lo-and-behold, Tampa Bay is a lot faster than their totals imply.
Best & Worst: +18mph Speed Bursts per 60
Best
Colorado Avalanche: 149.78
Anaheim Ducks: 135.41
Buffalo Sabres: 135.15
Worst
Winnipeg Jets: 101.39
Chicago Blackhawks: 101.39
Minnesota Wild: 103.26
Graduating with Honors
Going from 18-20 miles per hour is fast, but hardly counts as game breaking speed. Let’s up the parameters. What teams are the best at hitting +20mph on a consistent basis?
We clearly see Colorado start to pull ahead as the fastest team in the NHL. While Nathan MacKinnon (122) has over 50 less high-end speed bursts than Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (174), Martin Necas (84), Cale Makar (48), and the relatively unknown Sam Malinski (31) are all contributing to what makes up the fastest team in the NHL.
What we also see is Calgary start to show as the slowest group in the NHL when it comes to hitting top speeds. A quiet truth among the Flames organization, but it adds context to them sitting in last place in the standings. The team misses their resident burner in Martin Pospisil, although they did just claim John Beecher off waivers, who put up excellent speed metrics last season.
We also see the Predators go from 23rd in speed bursts above 18mph to 31st in speed bursts above 20mph.
The two last-place teams sitting at the bottom of that chart. Draw your own conclusions.
Best & Worst: +20mph Speed Bursts per 60
Best
Colorado Avalanche: 35.37
Edmonton Oilers: 29.41
Montreal Canadiens: 29.24
Worst
Calgary Flames: 15.26
Nashville Predators: 16.15
Winnipeg Jets: 17.12
The Quick & the Dead
Let’s look at one final category. Really fast.
This might be the least significant of the categories as it’s often just a couple players on each team hitting those marks every few games, but it certainly tells a story of who has the elite skating talent in the NHL. The Flyers, for example are carried by Owen Tippett, who is second place in the NHL with 18 bursts above 22mph.
And it should go without saying that Connor McDavid leads the way for the Oilers—his total on the season is 39.
To illustrate how difficult the +22mph mark is to reach for the average NHLer, the top ten skaters in this category have at least ten bursts that have hit that mark—five teams at the bottom haven’t hit ten in total. Detroit (9), Calgary (9), Nashville(8), Seattle (6), and San Jose (3).
Best & Worst: +22mph Speed Bursts per 60
Best
Edmonton Oilers: 2.69
Colorado Avalanche: 2.59
Utah Mammoth: 1.88
Worst
San Jose Sharks: 0.14
Seattle Kraken: 0.30
Nashville Predators: 0.39
Moving Forward
All of this carries a but of a caveat or two. Speed does not necessarily imply quality of play. Some speed bursts are accounted when a player chasing the puck. Other times they may be simply driving the far lane in an attempt to draw pressure from the puck carrier. Some teams can also maintain an extremely fast pace of play without having players flying around on every rush; looking at you, Vegas.
What we’re missing is context. Perhaps with the assistance of AI, we’ll start to see some strange stats that include speed metrics; successful backchecks, average time to accelerate to 18mph, stuff along those lines.
For now, we have an underrated treasure trove of data at NHL Edge just waiting to confirm the biases that we so desire.
Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, NHL Edge, and the National Hockey League.
KEEP READING:
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Analysis: Do the Calgary Flames Have a Discipline Issue?
Calgary Flames Early Season Struggles: Kadri Trade Talk & Young Core Under Fire
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