Carolina Hurricanes: Jaccob Slavin, Most Important Hurricane

Jaccob Slavin has been the number one defenseman on the Carolina Hurricanes for quite some time now. We take a look at what aspects of his game make him the most important Hurricane player currently on the team.

It is Jaccob Slavin‘s world. We are all just living in it. The Norris Trophy finalist names have come out and once again they manage to completely misspell his name. That’s okay. Where the league will not give him his credit, we will.

Jaccob Slavin led the Carolina Hurricanes in blocked shots with 133 in the regular season. He is rarely out of position and has the ability to recover on almost all situations. His willingness to get down and to block shots is a staple of his defensive play.

He also has the ability, when he is out of position, to use his stick to deflect pucks in passing lanes out of harm’s way. He has found himself in numerous occasions this season saving goals by clearing the puck out as at it gets close to entering the goal, sometimes in the late seconds saving what would have been clear cut goals.

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When two on one rushes present itself by the opposition, in which Slavin is the defenseman, most of the time he is able to disrupt the pass or the shot attempt. He does this by leaving his feet at the right time and getting his body in front of the pass or when he leaves his feet at a less than ideal time, he has an uncanny ability of recovering with his stick to deflect the puck away from the net.

Slavin’s hockey sense is on full display when he is on the penalty kill. His ability to get to loose pucks to clear them out of the defensive end is superb. He also has a knack for reading where a player is going to move the puck to be able to get the puck out of the zone. He is capable of shutting down top forwards in the league, seemingly with ease at times.

Slavin for most of the 2018-19 season was on the second power play unit, where he had seven power play points (five goals, two assists). Five of his eight goals were on the power play as he generated most of his goal scoring on the power play.

What makes Slavin dangerous on the offensive end is his skating ability. He has the ability to go end to end in a flash and can finish goals as he is more than capable of deking defenseman and goaltenders. His skating can also get him open in certain offensive situations and allow him to pinch offensively and have the ability to get back in transition.

One of the most underrated assets in Slavin’s arsenal is his ability to pass the puck. He has recorded a total of 28 assists this season (including his five assists in the playoffs). His ability to set up teammates to have great scoring chances in extraordinary.

As a recent example, in game four against the Washington Capitals. Only seconds into the game Slavin found Warren Foegele out in front of the net to score a goal that got the Hurricanes momentum very early in the game.

Slavin is solid at stretch passes leading forwards on breakaways or odd man rushes as well. On occasion, Slavin has seen a streaking forward breaking passed the defense and hitting his teammate in stride to set them up for a grade-A chance.

Slavin has been termed the top defenseman of a high quality group that the Hurricanes have. However, he isn’t really seen by most hockey fans as the most important player to the franchise. He does have the ability to change games for the Carolina Hurricanes and that needs to be noticed. Defense wins championships and Slavin is the top guy on the Hurricanes in that regard.

Question for CC Readers: What aspects of Jaccob Slavin’s game do you feel go unnoticed?