In October 2023, the league launched NHL Edge, an advanced statistics section of it’s website. While it went largely unnoticed by most fans, the league published a two page summation (see The Hockey News’ Yearbook) of various measurements.
The two page spread reveals the top three players in max speed, fastest shot, total distance skated, high-danger shooting percentage, high-danger saves and offensive zone time.
Fans who attended the Canadiens‘ skills contest at the Bell Centre last February won’t be surprised to read that defenseman Arber Xhekaj launched the third hardest shot league wide last season. His slapper was clocked at 102.23 mph. Winnipeg Jets‘ Colin Miller had the hardest shot of the year at 102.59 mph while Tampa Bay Lightning‘s Darren Raddysh came in second place with a 102.40 mph rocket.
Xhekaj had launched a 107.2 mph bomb at the skills’ competition. Not all that far off Zdeno Chara‘s all time record 108.8 established at the 2012 NHL All-Star Skills Competition. Having the third hardest shot of the season in a competitive game is much more impressive however.
Another Canadiens’ defenseman found his way on to the podium of a different category: skating distance. Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon came in first with 300.15 mi, Buffalo Sabres‘ defenseman Rasmus Dahlin came in second with 299.29 mi while Montreal‘s Mike Matheson came in third with 295.31 mi.
Philadelphia Flyers‘ Owen Tippet was the fastest skater being clocked at 24.21 mph, Edmonton Oilers‘ Zach Hyman took the cake in high-danger shots with 180, New York Rangers‘ Artemi Panarin had the best shooting percentage in high-danger positions with 36.6 percent, Jordan Binnington had the most high-danger saves and the Carolina Hurricanes had the most offensive zone time with 46.6%.
Want to see more interesting stats? Head over to NHL Edge and see how other Canadiens’ players compare with league leaders.
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