A trio of Vancouver Canucks forwards were among the slowest players in the entire National Hockey League during the 2024-25 season, new data shows.
With the Vancouver Canucks' 2024-25 campaign now over, it's always interesting to take a look back at the statistics to which players excelled in certain areas throughout the years, as well as who struggled.
While some players were good offensively this season for Vancouver, including Pius Suter who set career highs in goals and points, there were some areas where he didn't do so well, particularly his skating speed where him and two teammates ranked among the league's worst.
Trio of Vancouver Canucks among NHL's worst in skating speed
In a recent post on social media, JFresh, who looks at advanced statistics around the National Hockey League, shared a graphic that featured three categories from this season - top sustained speed (MPH), fewest 18+ MPH speed bursts per 60 minutes and fewest 20+ MPH speed bursts per 60 minutes.
"Who were the slowest forwards of 2024-25?
Thanks to the NHL's tracking data we can find out.
Here are the slowest by top speed and sustained bursts above 18 and 20 miles per hour:" JFresh said.
In the first category, top sustained speed (MPH), the Vancouver Canucks have two skaters, Dakota Joshua and Pius Suter, who sit tied for fourth (21.0 MPH) and tied for ninth (21.1 MPH), respectively.
As for fewest 18+ MPH speed bursts per 60 minutes, Pius Suter makes an appearance once again, coming in at ninth with 13.1, while Brock Boeser, who is expected to hit the free agent market on July 1st, is ranked 19th at 16.6.
When it comes to the final category, fewest 20+ MPH speed bursts per 60 minutes, Pius Suter shows up again and this time, it's even worse than the previous two as he sits tied for second with Florida's Matthew Tkachuk at 0.4, only behind recently retired forward Pat Maroon.
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin has some big decisions to make on Brock Boeser and Pius Suter before July 1st and if he wants to build a speedier team next season, one can assume these statistics could play a factor in their future with the organization.