Alex Newhook Shows Off Ridiculous Speed At Montreal Canadiens Skills Competition

The Montreal Canadiens have taken a little bit of a unique approach to their rebuild since Kent Hughes took over as the team's general manager.

Most teams that are picking high in the draft and looking to build for the future completely hoard draft picks. Look at the Arizona Coyotes who might have more second round picks in the next couple years than the rest of the league combined.

The Canadiens however, have actually traded away two first round picks in the past two NHL Drafts while being one of the worst teams in the league. Now, they aren't trading away their own top five picks, but they acquired the 15th overall pick in 2022 and traded it for Kirby Dach. Last spring, they dealt the 31st overall pick, and the 37th, for Alex Newhook.

Adding young players to the team isn't odd for a rebuilding team, you just don't often see them moving out first round picks.

We will have to wait and see how it all works out, but both Dach and Newhook have played well for the Canadiens when healthy. The problem is both have sustained serious injuries in their short tenures with the Canadiens as well.

One thing that can't be taken away from Newhook, even after a high ankle sprain this season, is his blazing speed.

His quickness was always his calling card and it helped him become a first round pick in 2019 by the Colorado Avalanche. It was on full display once again at the Bell Centre yesterday afternoon.

The Canadiens held their team skills competition and if Arber Xhekaj blasting a puck over 107 miles per hour was not the highlight, it was Newhook's spin around the rink in the fastest skater competition. He made the lap in 13.372 seconds which was slightly quicker than Connor McDavid's time at the recent NHL Skills Competition.

Now, not to take away from Newhook's performance, but the nets were pushed back a little bit further in the NHL event, meaning McDavid travled a slightly longer distance in his skate, but Newhook also kind of slowed up in the middle of his to take his helmet off.

Hopefully Newhook can improve on his offensive totals in the next couple years so he can get the chance to skate against McDavid at an All-Star Game. It would be quite the showdown as they can both obviously fly around the arena.