How Jaccob Slavin Is Leading the NHL’s Best Defense

The Carolina Hurricanes had a busy offseason. Dougie Hamilton and Brock McGinn left in free agency, while the team brought in Tony DeAngelo, Ian Cole, Brendan Smith and Derek Stepan as depth pieces. Former playoff hero Warren Foegele was dealt to Edmonton in exchange for Ethan Bear. Finally, there was the infamous Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet.

Through 28 games, the 2021-22 regular season hasn’t been any less eventful for them. Injuries and a certain global pandemic have forced head coach Rod Brind’Amour to adjust his lineup almost every night in order to stay atop the league’s most competitive division.

Shutdown blueliner Jaccob Slavin has taken the brunt of this instability. Following the departure of his established puck-moving partner, he must now assume greater offensive responsibilities while continuing to anchor the Hurricanes’ defense. Moreover, the ever-changing roster has led Slavin to log significant minutes alongside Bear, Cole and DeAngelo. In other words, Carolina’s No. 1 rearguard is facing his toughest test to date without the benefit of time to develop chemistry with a new pairmate.

And he’s passing with flying colors.

While Slavin can’t replace Hamilton’s natural puck skills, he’s providing his most assertive performances to date. Rather than clinging to his reliable flips and stretch passes, the 27-year-old is actively looking to unlock defenses with his pace and playmaking instincts. Opponents still view him as the stay-at-home type, so his boldness is frequently catching them with their pants down:

This more active style jells nicely with a 20-7-1 Hurricanes squad that throws the kitchen sink at its opponents. At 5-on-5, Carolina ranks second in shot attempts, first in high-danger opportunities, first in expected goals and sixth in actual goals. A lot happens from shift to shift, and Slavin is always right in the thick of the action. It’s not unusual to see him charging below the goal line or holding on to the puck for an extra beat in hopes of manufacturing opportunities. As a result, he’s never averaged more primary assists, shot attempts or scoring chances.

Once possession is flipped, however, Slavin remains a stout defender. Beyond adhering to his club’s offense-by-volume philosophy, he keeps the puck out of Carolina’s end with perhaps the tightest gap control in the sport. There’s a reason he’s the prototypical modern NHL defenseman: He’s a 6’3”, 207-pounder who can skate like the wind. That’s almost unfair.

His timing and faith in his mobility allow him to creep higher up on his mark and nip their designs in the bud:

There’s simply nowhere for the puck-carrier to go. Consequently, opponents prefer to attempt entries away from Slavin’s side of the ice. But even when they can evade that first level of resistance, they now have to contend with his nightmarishly long stick. His reach seems disproportionate to his frame, as he routinely breaks up plays he should have no business impacting.

In one-on-one battles, he can poke pucks away from opponents before they realize that possibility. If he ever lets someone sneak behind him, he can catch up in the blink of an eye thanks to his wheels and wingspan:

Though Brind’Amour is comfortable playing Slavin in any situation, there’s an…unnerving quality about his defense. He isn’t a traditional shutdown presence who just blankets star forwards. His positioning isn’t spotless whatsoever. He’ll take chances, end up on the wrong side of the puck and bet on his speed and high-wire instincts to bail him out. Opponents enjoy some room to breathe, but then he bolts into the frame out of nowhere to suck the air out of their attacks.

To be fair, Slavin is fully capable of delivering a more conventional meat-and-potatoes shade of defense—and he does at times. But he also mixes in a more frenetic, unpredictable energy. He’ll lunge at puck-carriers when the numbers don’t make sense. He’ll inch away from a wide-open forward to bait a pass and then spring his trap.

His brand of defense is crueler because he offers forwards a glimmer of hope only to crush it at the last second. He’s profoundly frustrating to play against:

Despite all their roster turmoil, the Hurricanes are enjoying a wonderful campaign. They’re ninth in goals for, first in goals against and sitting in the Metropolitan Division’s catbird seat. You could make the argument that they’ve never looked better under Brind’Amour.

Neither has Slavin.

He has 14 points in 28 games. He remains a force in his zone. He leads the league in shorthanded ice time by a wide margin and powers the second-best PK unit in the NHL. Among the 120 defensemen who have played at least 400 minutes at the 5-on-5, he ranks third in CF% (57.4), first in SCF% (59.9), fourth in HDCF% (59.8) and fourth in xGF% (57.9). If the poor goaltending during his shifts (90.8 SV%) bounces back to anywhere near his career average, his already excellent 58.7 GF% (29th) will improve dramatically.

By pressing the issue on the attack without compromising his defense, Slavin is shattering long-held expectations of him. He’s no longer bound to the “shutdown” qualifier. He’s entered the conversation as one of the sport’s best defensemen. Period.