NHL All-Star Odds, Prediction: McDavid, Barzal, Makar Headline Fastest Skater Challenge
The 2024 NHL All-Star weekend is headed to Toronto and as always, one of the highlights of Saturday’s skills competition will be the Fastest Skater challenge. This year’s Fastest Skater challenge features two previous winners, a hometown favourite and two of the NHL’s best young defencemen.
Let’s take a look at the field for the 2024 fastest skater competition.
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2024 NHL All-Star Skills Competition
The NHL is mixing things up a bit for this year’s skills competition. Instead of individual winners for each event, 12 players will compete in multiple events to crown an overall winner, with a $1 million grand prize. Each player will compete in four of six events (Fastest Skater, Hardest Shot, Stick Handling, One Timers, Passing Challenge and Accuracy Shooting), with a point system based on the results. The top eight players advance to the One-on-One Shootout. The last six players standing will compete in the final event, the Obstacle Course.
The Fastest Skater challenge is a timed event with players completing one full lap around the ice.
2024 NHL All-Star Fastest Skater
Connor McDavid of the Oilers and Mathew Barzal of the Islanders are the favourites to win the Fastest Skater challenge, which makes sense given they are both former winners. McDavid won three consecutive times between 2017 and 2019 with times of 13.310 seconds, 13.454 seconds and 13.378 seconds. Barzal won in 2020 with a time of 13.175 seconds, the second-fastest time ever clocked (Dylan Larkin set the record in 2016 with a time of 13.172 seconds).
Don’t sleep on Colorado’s Cale Makar at +375. Makar was on pace for one of the top times in last year’s challenge before he wiped out on the final turn. William Nylander and Quinn Hughes are also attractive options, with each player sporting hefty +1000 odds to win. Nylander has never competed in the Fastest Skater challenge, but he will be the hometown favourite and he’ll want to put on a good show for the crowd. Hughes competed in the even during his rookie season in 2019-20, clocking a time of 14.263 seconds.
Prediction
I’m taking Connor McDavid all day long. McDavid always reaches another level when he plays in Toronto and I expect the same mentality for All-Star weekend. He’s an Ontario kid and this is his signature event. The Fastest Skater crown will be returned to its rightful owner, Connor McDavid.
