Jaccob Slavin Heralded For Dominant Team USA Performance
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin has arguably been the best defensive defenseman in hockey for a while now.
But thanks to a little bit more exposure on one of the biggest stages for the sport in years, it seems like the rest of the hockey world is finally starting to catch up to that fact.
"A little? That's all they were talking about," joked Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "It's great. Great for him because he goes under the radar maybe. Not here, but just in general. It was good observations by everyone and he obviously played well. It was warranted."
Sullivan: "Jaccob Slavin might be one of the best defending defensemen in the league, bar none."
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 21, 2025
Slavin averaged 23:16 across four games for the USA and was only on the ice for two goals against all tournament.
Those goals both came against Team Sweden in a game in which the Americans were resting players and more so, both goals were scored on the opposite side of the ice from him.
So Slavin was perfect in two games against Team Canada and one against Team Finland.
He put EVERYONE on notice 😤How good was Jaccob Slavin last night? pic.twitter.com/o1KoxJvX5w
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 21, 2025
There were countless times were Slavin saved a goal or killed a play before it could even materialize.
The veteran defenseman is one of the best players in the world with his defensive anticipation and elite stick work (per Sportslogiq, Slavin leads the league in blocked passes) and it was on full display.
He was a massive wall in front of his own net and one of the reasons why the USA was able to have such a good tournament.
Even his teammates who had to face off against him agreed.
Jaccob Slavin is an ELITE defenseman 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/y3JX1hSZfo
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 21, 2025
"Probably one of the best defensive defensemen in the league but he can also play with the puck," said Mikko Rantanen. "Sometimes people forget. I watched the game last night and he was the best d-man out there for both teams. Just tells you how good and smart of a player he is."
"It was the first or second shift and he stood me up on the blueline," said Sebastian Aho. "Everyone here knows how good he is. Obviously now with a little bit of a bigger platform, everyone sees him. Best-on-best and he did a pretty damn good job shutting those guys down. He's an unbelievable d-man and we're so lucky to have him."
Jaccob Slavin 🇺🇸 is the poster child for why a second NHL Award should be created for defensive defensemen.Elite.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 21, 2025
The entire hockey world couldn't stop talking about Slavin last night, and even the ESPN broadcast was heaping praise upon him.
Everyone in Carolina has known just how good Slavin is, but it's nice to see him get the recognition he rightly deserves.
Created a player archetype a couple of years ago to measure how disruptive a player is defensively. Breaking up plays etc. Here's how it grades out over the last 3 seasons for defencemen...1. Slavin🇺🇸2. Heiskanen🇫🇮3. Toews🇨🇦4. A. Vlasic🇺🇸5. M. Anderson🇺🇸6. Brodin🇸🇪7.… https://t.co/ot1E3KpT2l
— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) February 21, 2025
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