It took quite some time, but the NHL finally announced the skaters participating in the NHL All-Star Skills Competitions. They also added three new events with the Splash Shot, Pitch 'n Puck and Tendy Tandem. It will be exciting to see how those play out, but we're focused on the tried and true. That would be the classic fastest skater competition. It was Jordan Kyrou of the St. Louis Blues who won the event last season. After taking a look at this season's roster, we've made an NHL All-Star Fastest Skater pick for you below.
Along with our NHL NHL All-Star Fastest Skater pick, be sure to check out all our upcoming NHL analysis for the entire All-Star weekend.
Kirill Kaprizov to win (+500)
It's quite a shock to not see Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers as a participant this season. He's tied for the all-time record for wins in the event and was just upset last season. We expected him to be eager to regain the title, and $30,000 to the winner certainly doesn't hurt. Regardless, we're predicting the extra pocket change will help out a youngster tonight.
This would be another year of an upset, as Dylan Larkin is also a participant, who holds the record at 13.172 seconds. That time is for one lap around the rink, and we're backing Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild to continue ascending to one of the faces of the NHL. Fellow youngster, Cale Makar, will also be taking his trip around the ice, who won the Norris Trophy for the league's best defender last season. We're expecting Kaprizov to want to get some hardware to add to his resume. The 25-year-old had the 4th-most points in the NHL last season with 108 and is already the clear leader of a playoff-bound Wild team.