Inside Devils Rookie Defenseman Explosive Skating Statistics

NHL Edge released some skating statistics on Wednesday morning, highlighting the impact of New Jersey Devils rookie defenseman Luke Hughes during the 2023-24 campaign.

Despite being only 20 and now with 84 games of experience, Hughes skated among the best in the league, including Cale Makar and Jake Sanderson.

Whether it was flying around the ice at max speed, skating bursts, or skating bursts recorded over 22 mph, Hughes ranked at or near the top of each category.

Historically, Hughes recorded the third-highest max skating speed by a defenseman at 24.19 mph, only behind Kaiden Guhle (24.20) and Martin Fehervary (24.21).

Last season, Hughes ranked second in the entire NHL with his max speed, trailing only Owen Tippett, who reached 24.21 mph.

Ultimately, with his recorded 24.19 mph burst, Hughes was tied with Connor McDavid (24.19) and outranked other stars like Brayden Point (24.15) and Nathan MacKinnon (24.05).

Hughes had an impressive rookie campaign, finishing as a Calder Trophy finalist. However, one of the most compelling statistics of his year is that he tied former Norris Trophy winner Makar in recorded speed bursts of 22 mph or higher.

Together, the pair tied for first with 25 bursts a piece, way ahead of Sanderson (17), Guhle (13), Nick Leddy (12), and Mike Matheson (11), the only players to reach double digits.

Hughes made quite an impression as a rookie, and the scary thought is he's also going to get better, which means some of these skating records could end up having his name next to them.