{"id":461302,"date":"2026-02-08T07:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T07:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/461302\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T07:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T07:24:11","slug":"slavin-embraces-unsung-defensive-role-for-team-usa-at-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/461302\/","title":{"rendered":"Slavin embraces unsung defensive role for Team USA at Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

K’Andre Miller<\/a>, who played against Slavin the previous five seasons with the Rangers before being traded to the Hurricanes this past offseason, said he has a whole new appreciation for his fellow defenseman.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou hear about how good he is defensively, but I really didn\u2019t get to appreciate it from an opponent\u2019s standpoint,\u201d Miller said. \u201cBeing on the same side now, getting to see the work he puts in daily and just the type of player he is, it\u2019s not surprising how good he is.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe holds the team accountable and pushes us in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not been an easy season for Slavin. The 31-year-old sustained a lower-body injury in the second game of the season on Oct. 11 and was out until Dec. 14. He played three games before sustaining another lower-body injury on Dec. 19. Slavin returned to the lineup on Jan. 10 and played the final 12 games before the break.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, he said he\u2019s \u201cfeeling good, feeling fresh,\u201d heading to the Olympics, and that\u2019s a huge boost for the U.S. because of what he can do and what he can stop the other team from doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brings a calm confidence,\u201d said Wild defenseman Brock Faber<\/a>, who will also play for the U.S. \u201cWhen he\u2019s out on the ice, it just feels like everything is going to be OK. In my opinion, he\u2019s the best defensive defenseman in the League and I think he should get a lot more recognition for what he brings to the table night in and night out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since being selected by the Hurricanes in the fourth round (No. 120) of the 2012 Draft, Slavin has 302 points (55 goals, 247 assists) in 762 games. The points don\u2019t tell the story. For his career, which began in the 2015-16 season, he is plus-176, which is eighth in the NHL and second among U.S.-born players in that time frame, behind Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh<\/a> (plus-204). Since the start of the 2019-20 season, he\u2019s plus-151, which is fifth best in the NHL and first among U.S.-born players.<\/p>\n

Over Slavin\u2019s 11 seasons, the Hurricanes have allowed an average of 2.70 goals per game, which is second best behind the Boston Bruins (2.65).<\/p>\n

\u201cDefensively, he\u2019s an all-world player,\u201d said Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy<\/a>, another U.S. teammate. \u201cHe\u2019s extremely elite defensively.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play the game in a time where points are king, offensive (hockey) is king. No one shows up to watch a 1-0 game, but that might be the game Jaccob Slavin helps his team get a shutout.\u201d<\/p>\n

How much is Slavin respected among his fellow U.S. defensemen? Jake Sanderson<\/a> of the Ottawa Senators, who is on the Olympic team and played with Slavin at the 4 Nations Face-Off, said at the orientation camp that though the Norris Trophy usually goes to the best offensive defenseman in the NHL, there should be an award for the best defensive defensemen and it should be named after Slavin.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys around the League know he’s probably the best defensive D-man in the League,\u201d Sanderson said. \u201cHe skates so well, he’s so strong, his details. I think firsthand at 4 Nations, I saw how good his stick is. Not just with poke checks, but knocking down pucks, which is a huge skill to have, too. It was pretty cool to see him play.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"K’Andre Miller, who played against Slavin the previous five seasons with the Rangers before being traded to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-461302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}