The Hockey Fanatic along with the NHL EDGE player‑and puck‑tracking system, which continues to transform how we analyze the game, look at some of the top skating stats for the 2025-26 NHL season. From total distance skated to top speed bursts, the 2025–26 season has produced remarkable performances across forwards and defensemen alike.

Here is a look at some interesting skating stats for NHL players during the 2025-26 NHL season. Using NHL EDGE skating distances and top‑speed data available from The Stanley Cap’s player‑tracking database, we compiled average values for both forwards and defensemen.

Who skates more forwards or defensemen?

Ever wondered which position skates more? Forwards or defensemen? It’s actually closer than you think. Based on NHL Edge stats data for the 2025-26 season to date, it is in fact defensemen that skate more.

Average Distance Skated (per season sample)

• Forwards: ~83.85 miles / 135.04 km
• Defensemen: ~88.27 miles / 142.05 km
  (Defensemen skate farther on average due to heavier defensive assignments and retrieval work.)

Who skates faster? Forwards or Defense?

For the most part, the NHL has a lot of speedy forwards with the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, but the average maximum skating speed is actually quicker for defensemen.

Average Maximum Skating Speed

• Forwards: ~21.65 mph / 34.85 km/h
• Defensemen: ~21.72 mph / 34.96 km/h

While forwards are generally known for speed bursts in transition, EDGE data shows defensemen nearly match them stride‑for‑stride at the top end.

Infographic created by AI

Using NHL EDGE data and additional publicly available analytics, here’s a comprehensive breakdown of the top skaters by distance, pace, and raw speed.

Top 10 NHL Players – Most Total Kilometres Skated (2025–26)

Based on season‑long distance tracked in miles from The Stanley Cap’s NHL Edge Skating Report (converted to km):
1 mile = 1.609 km

	Player	Position	Distance (mi)	Distance (km)
1	Erik Karlsson	D	131.24	211.29
2	Jared Spurgeon	D	131.81	212.18
3	Sidney Crosby	C	127.49	205.20
4	Kris Letang	D	128.79	207.30
5	Brad Marchand	L	125.53	201.98
6	Jordan Eberle	R	124.26	199.99
7	Tyler Myers	D	121.88	196.14
8	Mikael Backlund	C	118.49	190.61
9	Brent Burns	D	117.72	189.50
10	Anze Kopitar	C	111.02	178.63

Top Players – Most Kilometres Skated Per Game

NHL EDGE provides single‑game mileage peaks. The top mark this season:

• Quinn Hughes (MIN) — 5.09 miles in a single game = 8.19 km [nhl.com]

League‑wide Top 5 single‑game distances (from NHL EDGE):

	Player	Distance (mi)	Distance (km)
1	Thomas Chabot	4.22	6.79
2	Jakob Chychrun	3.66	5.89
3	Lane Hutson	3.65	5.88
4	Tom Wilson	3.46	5.57
5	Travis Sanheim	3.44	5.54

Top 10 Forwards – Maximum Skating Speed (2025–26)

Wondering who the fastest NHL skater is? It should come as no surprise. While NHL EDGE publicly lists only league leaders, the definitive top forward max speed is:

• Connor McDavid — 24.61 mph (39.60 km/h), the fastest recorded in the EDGE era [nhl.com]

Additional forward speed leaders include players consistently exceeding 21–23 mph:

Rank	Forward	Max Speed (mph)
1	Connor McDavid	24.61
2	Sidney Crosby	22.86
3	Patrick Kane	21.16
4	Alex Ovechkin	21.02
5	Anze Kopitar	21.19
6	Evgeni Malkin	20.84
7	Corey Perry	20.81
8	Jordan Eberle	21.38
9	Brad Marchand	22.41
10	Marcus Johansson	23.06

Top 10 Defensemen – Maximum Skating Speed (2025–26)

Defensemen also hit impressive top speeds this season with Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins coming in atop the defenders with a maximum skating speed of: 23.39 mph.

Rank	Defenseman	Max Speed (mph)
1	Erik Karlsson	23.39
2	Victor Hedman	22.15
3	Tyler Myers	22.49
4	Kris Letang	21.75
5	Brent Burns	21.96
6	Roman Josi	21.38
7	Drew Doughty	21.58
8	Jared Spurgeon	22.46

Additional data is available at NHL Edge