Carolina Hurricanes: Super Savin Jaccob Slavin

Caniacs around the world know how good he’s been for the Carolina Hurricanes, but just who is Jaccob Slavin?

I would like to take you back to a nothing trade in 2012. The Carolina Hurricanes traded Alexei Ponikarovsky to the New Jersey Devils for Joe Sova and a 2012 4th round draft pick. 120th overall in the 2012 draft, the Carolina Hurricanes used that pick to draft Jaccob Slavin. Little did anyone know that this would be one of the best decisions in the organisation’s history.

From Denver, Colorado, Jaccob Slavin seemed to be a perfect fit. A fine defenseman with strong religious beliefs, he was the perfect man for Raleigh. It was always believed he wouldn’t have an issue relating to the locals in a southern market like Carolina because of his giving nature. If nothing more than a crowd pleaser, he turned into something of a different class.

Slavin never really showed off his offensive upside in the USHL or in college. He never had more than 33 points in 65 games in the USHL and never more than 25 points for Colorado College. So, where did this young star start to shine?

Slavin made his NHL debut in 2015. That is correct, the superb defender has been with us for nearly 5 years. He did start that season off with the Checkers, but quickly was moved up when Mark Morris saw that he was far too good for the American Hockey League. But he did not grab the headlines right away. His defensive game was sound, but he couldn’t produce like a top defender.

In one game, the entire thought process around Slavin changed. Carolina traveled to Brooklyn to take on the Islanders, in a completely insane game that saw Jaccob Slavin tally a hat trick in only his second year in the NHL. He was scoring, and alongside partner Brett Pesce, they could shut down almost any team in the league. Why was he still flying under the radar?

Long story short, it was still a lack of production. He couldn’t score as much as the top defenders in the league, so he wasn’t getting the praise he truly deserved. If he could put up points, surely everything would change. He would step forward into the public eye as a top class defender. Management saw this decided to make a move to help him out.

Carolina made a move that brought Calgary and Boston outcast Dougie Hamilton to Raleigh. Hamilton and Slavin took over the Canes top pairing and there were early season questions. On New Years Day both sat at -15, and Hamilton had 6 points.

By the end of the year, both were above +10 and both had over 30 points. They had earned the spotlight in Carolina and they backstopped, along with Pesce and 3 other premier defensemen, a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals to remember their first playoff trip since 2009.

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Dougie now has 39 points in 43 games with Carolina and Slavin is a little behind that, but Slavin is now playing his defensive role, where he covers for Dougie’s defensive lapses to allow Dougie to explode going forward, and the team have been big benefactors of that.

In essence, Jaccob Slavin was never expected to do much of anything, He was drafted with a throw-in pick from a seemingly meaningless trade. However. with hard work, good management and great coaching, this 4th round pick from Denver, Colorado has managed to becomes on of the best defensemen in the National Hockey League.

Question for CC Readers: Where would you rank Jaccob Slavin among all time Hurricanes defenders?