Zach Bogosians Speed Stats Edge Makes No Sense

[Elvs]

Lately I've been starting to pay more attention to NHL's "EDGE puck and player tracking" stats. I've been going through many hundreds of players and today I was shocked seeing Zach Bogosian's speed stats.

For reference, the average player tends to record highest speeds between 21.7 to 22.1 mph. Basicially, anyone skating above 23 mph can be considered a speedster and anyone above 24 mph is absolute lightning fast.

Now look at Zach Bogosian's speed stats and especially look at how they have progressed over the last few seasons:

2021/2022 (48 games): 21.83 mph
2022/2023 (46 games): 21.96 mph
2023/2024 (65 games): 23.96 mph (five times recorded speed bursts of 22+)

That is an unbelievable increase in speed for a 6'2" / 223 lbs pound defencemen between the ages of 31-33 (turns 34 in july). Bogosian somehow jumped from average to not only fast, but lightning fast.

Even if he healed some injury and maybe shed a few pounds, that is still a miraculous improvement. Makes me wonder if there could be something wrong with the league's new tracking system.

What do you think is the reason?

 

[Despote]

Maybe he got pushed by a teammate to achieve higher velocity, or was just involved in a rink wide footrace?

 

[Elvs]

Maybe he got pushed by a teammate to achieve higher velocity, or was just involved in a rink wide footrace?

That could be a factor, espeially as defensemen get less opportunities to step on the pedal in games. But again, having checked many hundreds of players (I'd say at least 600+ at this point as I'm going through all the teams), I have yet to come across any other players standing out in this way.

 

[olli]

223 lbs is not very heavy for a 6’2 man who likely has a solid amount of muscle. This is more surprising given the kind of player Bogosion is and his progression with age but being that heavy is way less of a disadvantage than people would think. Owen Tippet had the fastest speed burst in the league and he’s listed at 6’1 210.

 

[Wasted Talent]

The EDGE website actually shows the exact time when the top speed burst happened, so you can look it up if you are curious and have access to full game replays:

 

[Sky04]

Why do people think he's slow? I've seen him rush the puck up the ice many times in TB, hes an excellent skater. His weakness has never been skating in fact that was his strongest trait during his draft year, probably the biggest reason he's still in the league too.

 

[Elvs]

Why do people think he's slow? I've seen him rush the puck up the ice many times in TB, hes an excellent skater. His weakness has never been skating in fact that was his strongest trait during his draft year, probably the biggest reason he's still in the league.

I remember that also when he was drafted. I'm not surprised he can have displays of good top speed. It is the stats this year compared to the previous two, at his age, that is surprising. In the previous two seasons his highest speed bursts were average. This season he's suddenly recording better numbers than the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Barzal, and by a wide margin. He's not far behind Connor McDavid either. It would've been interesting to see Bogosian's speed stats earlier in his career, but unfortunately we can only see the last three seasons.

 

[Beerz]

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Bogosian has always been a "tools" guy. It's why he was such a high draft pick. It's also not uncommon for bigger players, in particular d-men, to be strong, powerful skaters, in particular in a straight line.

 

[57special]

Last year was oddly injury free for him. Perhaps that helped with the numbers? That aside, once he gets going, he looks fairly fast. Not the greatest edges, or decision making, but good straight line speed.

He was a pleasant surprise on MN last year, but I'll admit i had low expectations. Certainly good enough to be a 3rd pairing RHD playing 15+ minutes/night.

Another odd fact about Bogo. He played 65 games last year. The last time he played more than that was when he was 20 yo, in Atlanta.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Lately I've been starting to pay more attention to NHL's "EDGE puck and player tracking" stats. I've been going through many hundreds of players and today I was shocked seeing Zach Bogosian's speed stats.

For reference, the average player tends to record highest speeds between 21.7 to 22.1 mph. Basicially, anyone skating above 23 mph can be considered a speedster and anyone above 24 mph is absolute lightning fast.

Now look at Zach Bogosian's speed stats and especially look at how they have progressed over the last few seasons:

2022/2023 (48 games): 21.83 mph
2021/2022 (46 games): 21.96 mph
2023/2024 (65 games): 23.96 mph (five times recorded speed bursts of 22+)

View attachment 876940

That is an unbelievable increase in speed for a 6'2" / 223 lbs pound defencemen between the ages of 31-33 (turns 34 in july). Bogosian somehow jumped from average to not only fast, but lightning fast.

Even if he healed some injury and maybe shed a few pounds, that is still a miraculous improvement. Makes me wonder if there could be something wrong with the league's new tracking system.

What do you think is the reason?

Yer doing God’s work. Seriously, stuff like this is why analytics get a bad rap- they’re often trying to measure something in a useful way, but it’s new tech, and the early results/implementation often have issues. In this case, claiming an NHL player added 2 mph to his speed burst at age 30+.

223 lbs is not very heavy for a 6’2 man who likely has a solid amount of muscle. This is more surprising given the kind of player Bogosion is and his progression with age but being that heavy is way less of a disadvantage than people would think. Owen Tippet had the fastest speed burst in the league and he’s listed at 6’1 210.

Why do people think he's slow? I've seen him rush the puck up the ice many times in TB, hes an excellent skater. His weakness has never been skating in fact that was his strongest trait during his draft year, probably the biggest reason he's still in the league.

I remember that also when he was drafted. I'm not surprised he can have displays of good top speed. It is the stats this year compared to the previous two, at his age, that is surprising. In the previous two seasons his highest speed bursts were average. This season he's suddenly recording better numbers than the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Barzal, and by a wide margin. He's not far behind Connor McDavid either. It would've been interesting to see Bogosian's speed stats earlier in his career, but unfortunately we can only see the last three seasons.

Ya, the point isn’t that he’s slow, it’s that adding 2 mph to your max speed is unbelievable. Literally unbelievable. Somethin is off on the measurement for him, simple as that.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Bigger guys are more likely to have the highest peak speeds as a result of momentum. Going in a straight line rush is where Bogo’s numbers come from. I don’t think the data itself is flawed but how you apply it to hockey matters. While Bogo may have the top speed, it takes him an awfully long time to get there and that weight only hinders his speed from a standstill. It requires more energy for him to get the proverbial ball rolling.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Why do people think he's slow? I've seen him rush the puck up the ice many times in TB, hes an excellent skater. His weakness has never been skating in fact that was his strongest trait during his draft year, probably the biggest reason he's still in the league.

Because, likely due to injuries, he has been slow most of his career. Maybe he’s finally healthy

 

[BagHead]

I remember that also when he was drafted. I'm not surprised he can have displays of good top speed. It is the stats this year compared to the previous two, at his age, that is surprising. In the previous two seasons his highest speed bursts were average. This season he's suddenly recording better numbers than the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Barzal, and by a wide margin. He's not far behind Connor McDavid either. It would've been interesting to see Bogosian's speed stats earlier in his career, but unfortunately we can only see the last three seasons.

Honestly, it's probably his health. Bogo was healthy for the whole year last year. He hasn't been that healthy since he was a boy, basically. The more he's on the ice, the more opportunities he has to go straight-line and put up a big number of MPH.

I can tell you he's not faster than MacKinnon or Barzal in what actually matters for a hockey player most: acceleration. His acceleration and agility aren't terrible (certainly NHL level), but he's like a train, he starts slow but can go very fast after a few strides. By then, MacKinnon is already past him and he won't catch up. The ice is only 200' long, after all.

 

[NVious]

The #Bogo4Norris movement is still alive and well

 

[P10p]

I've always saw smatterings that have talked down on his skating and always thought it made absolutely no sense.

 

[Ceremony]

The EDGE website actually shows the exact time when the top speed burst happened, so you can look it up if you are curious and have access to full game replays:

I see, he was slipstreaming as MacKinnon blasted past him.

 

[Chainshot]

Last year was oddly injury free for him. Perhaps that helped with the numbers? That aside, once he gets going, he looks fairly fast. Not the greatest edges, or decision making, but good straight line speed.

He was a pleasant surprise on MN last year, but I'll admit i had low expectations. Certainly good enough to be a 3rd pairing RHD playing 15+ minutes/night.

Another odd fact about Bogo. He played 65 games last year. The last time he played more than that was when he was 20 yo, in Atlanta.

You may have hit on the biggest reason by Brokegosian would be clocking faster times - he may have been healthier than he's been in years.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I've always saw smatterings that have talked down on his skating and always thought it made absolutely no sense.

I think it's because people use 'skating' as a catchall for movement and when someone gets called a less than elite skater it makes people often think of speed

Bogo seemed to always have the bowser from mario kart thing going, get him in motion and he's fast. He's just not super agile and he's not going to cut hard on his edges

on the flip side there are some very agile guys who don't have killer top speed, Trevor Moore comes to mind

All that being said I'm surprised to see him THAT fast, but dude was always a physical specimen, just needed some health luck

 

[Rhodes 81]

Another odd fact about Bogo. He played 65 games last year. The last time he played more than that was when he was 20 yo, in Atlanta.

That's just an insane stat. It's also wild to me that he scored 9 goals in 47 games as an 18 year old and then 10 in 81 as a 19 year old and has only topped 5 in a season once since then. Basically all of his best offensive season were from 18-22.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Probably the healthiest his lower body has been in a really long time, "top speed" is kind of irrelevant since it's so circumstantial as players and D in particular are rarely building up enough momentum to hit their top speed.

 

[Sky04]

Yer doing God’s work. Seriously, stuff like this is why analytics get a bad rap- they’re often trying to measure something in a useful way, but it’s new tech, and the early results/implementation often have issues. In this case, claiming an NHL player added 2 mph to his speed burst at age 30+.






Ya, the point isn’t that he’s slow, it’s that adding 2 mph to your max speed is unbelievable. Literally unbelievable. Somethin is off on the measurement for him, simple as that.

No, more than likely it's the person applying the analytics that doesn't understand or someone like you who can't apply context and assume it's flawed.

1) You don't actually know what his top speed is, the collected data is only through games from the past 3 years of which players rarely will hit their top speeds in game especially a defensenan. How do you know this isn't closer to his max speed when healthy? You don't.

2) He's been riddled with injuries with previous 2 years causing him to miss nearly 50% of the season both years, if you look further into the injuries they are almost all lower body injuries (go-figure right?)

 

[bossram]

Yer doing God’s work. Seriously, stuff like this is why analytics get a bad rap- they’re often trying to measure something in a useful way, but it’s new tech, and the early results/implementation often have issues. In this case, claiming an NHL player added 2 mph to his speed burst at age 30+.

Ya, the point isn’t that he’s slow, it’s that adding 2 mph to your max speed is unbelievable. Literally unbelievable. Somethin is off on the measurement for him, simple as that.

I don't think there is really any evidence to show that the measurement would be wrong for this year only. There are other big defensemen we wouldn't think of as fast that have very high top speeds. I think Jack Johnson had one of the highest peak speeds in the league this year.

The issue is that this data is more or less just trivia, and not really useful for any kind of evaluation or decision making at this point. If you skate hard tracking back a breakaway one time, you'll have a huge top speed on EDGE. But it doesn't really say anything about your actual game or general skating ability.

Bigger guys are more likely to have the highest peak speeds as a result of momentum. Going in a straight line rush is where Bogo’s numbers come from. I don’t think the data itself is flawed but how you apply it to hockey matters. While Bogo may have the top speed, it takes him an awfully long time to get there and that weight only hinders his speed from a standstill. It requires more energy for him to get the proverbial ball rolling.

Probably the healthiest his lower body has been in a really long time, "top speed" is kind of irrelevant since it's so circumstantial as players and D in particular are rarely building up enough momentum to hit their top speed.

Like you both said, peak speed is not really that important in hockey. Quick acceleration is far more valuable.

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

Bogo and Kaprizov actually swapped trackers in their jerseys. Surprised it took this long for anyone to notice.

 

[FDBluth]

The EDGE website actually shows the exact time when the top speed burst happened, so you can look it up if you are curious and have access to full game replays:

maybe he caught a Mackinnon tailwind.