Jaccob Slavin: 2017-18 By The Numbers
- Age: 23
- NHL Seasons: 3
- Games Played: 82
- Scoring: 8g—22a—30pts
- Ice Time: 22:34 all situations, 19:21 ES, 0:37 PP, 2:36 PK
- 5-on-5 Stats: 55.3% CF, 46.5% GF
- Contract Status: Finished final year of entry level deal (AAV $742,500); six year, $5.3 million AAV extension begins next season
Making the Grade
The pairing of Slavin and Brett Pesce was an unexpected revelation last season, with the two American youngsters giving the Carolina Hurricanes a formidable shutdown defensive pairing that successfully kept the likes of Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby at bay. With that in mind, Bill Peters went into the season trying something new: breaking Slavin and Pesce up, pairing the former with Justin Faulk and the latter with Noah Hanifin, and hoping that spreading the defensive proficiency around a bit would make the entire team more solid defensively.
That plan lasted all of twenty minutes.
By the second period of the season opener, the dynamic duo were back together, and they were alongside each other for the majority of the season. Slavin played 58% of his shifts with Pesce, and owing to a few injuries, Pesce played a remarkable 76% of the time next to Slavin, 5% more than he had the season before.
Even when reunited with his partner, Slavin seemed a bit off for the early part of the season, not up to his usual high standards. It culminated in a stretch of games in mid-November where Slavin posted a minus in five of seven games, and was -2 or worse in four of them.
Slowly, Slavin’s game rounded into form. He finished with eight goals, setting a career high, and by February he was back to normal in his own end. Crosby had two points in four games. McDavid had two assists in two matchups. Nikita Kucherov, two points in three games. Claude Giroux, three in four. Look down the list of the NHL’s leading scorers: with a couple of exceptions, Slavin faced them all, and largely shut them all down.
With a new contract kicking in next season, Slavin will be counted on as the Canes’ defensive linchpin for years to come. He might not have the name recognition of a P.K. Subban or an Erik Karlsson, but he’s shown no reason to not be considered as one of the league’s top shutdown defensemen.
A thank you note to our fans from @Jslavin74. pic.twitter.com/5QRMUu6KfL
— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) April 11, 2018
Exit Interview
There’s no video available, but here’s the audio from Slavin’s media availability on getaway day.
Poll
How do you grade Jaccob Slavin’s 2017-18 season?
This poll is closed
-
14%
A - outstanding performance
-
56%
B - above average performance
-
26%
C - average performance
-
1%
D - below average performance
-
0%
F - significantly below average performance