How fast is Julien Gauthier?
A once physical, gritty game, the NHL's regular season has become more about skill than ever before. The talent level displayed on a nightly basis is something of an art, but having slick hands isn't enough.
Players need to have speed to be effective.
According to JFresh, New York Islanders forward Julien Gauthier is the third-fastest player in the entire National Hockey League.
Twenty times this season, Gauthier has skated faster than 20 miles per hour, just three times fewer than Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan Mackinnon, who leads the league:
A major reason that Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello brought in Gauthier this summer, inking him to a two-year deal, was because of that raw speed.
Mathew Barzal may be a faster skater, with much better edge work, but in a North-South sprint up the ice from goal line to goal line, Gauthier probably takes the cake.
Where did some other Islanders rank amongst the league's speed list?
Barzal, who won the NHL's Fastest Skater competition at the 2020 All-Star Skills Competition, beating out Connor McDavid, ranks 24th, breaking 20 MPH 13 times, along with teammate Pierre Engvall.
The injured Casey Cizikas ranks 40th on the list, the final member of New York out of 104 skaters.
To sum things up, the Islanders have four players in the top 40.
Now, how about the slowest skaters in the NHL?
Matt Martin ranks 396th in the speed rankings, reaching 20 PMH 1.1 times, with Oliver Wahlstrom (376) and Kyle Palmieri (368) at 1.7 and 1.9, respectively.
Cal Clutterbuck has reached that mark 2.1 times (360).
The Islanders -- who get a bad rap for being a slow team -- have speed on every forward line, with Barzal on the top line, Engvall on the second line, Gauthier on the third line, and Cizikas on the fourth line when he returns from injury.