By Jordan Long
The Carolina Hurricanes decided to keep one of their young stars. They gave defenseman Jaccob Slavin a seven-year $37.7 million extension, paying him $5.3 million a year. The deal will not kick in until next season. Slavin is in the last year of his rookie contract which will pay him $925,000 this season. According to ESPN General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes Ron Francis said, “Jaccob is one of the cornerstones of our team moving forward, and it was important to secure him with our organization long term. We believe he is one of the top young defensemen in the NHL today, and are thrilled that he and his wife, Kylie, have made their home in Raleigh.”
Slavin will be entering his third NHL season. He has proven he can be one of the top scoring defensemen for this team. Last season Slavin scored 5 goals and added 29 assists for a total of 34 points. Offensively he is valuable on the power play because Slavin is the quarterback that sets up the power play from the blue line. He feeds his teammates for scoring chances and totaled 4 power play assists.
Defensively his size at 6 foot 2 inches allows him to check opponents off the puck. These checks end scoring opportunities. Slavin can also block shots before the puck reaches the goaltender. On the power play kill he has the ability to shoot the puck to the other end of the ice to take time off the clock.
The Hurricanes realized how important Slavin is to the future of the team. Each year he has shown growth at the NHL level. The best part about Slavin is he is only 23 years old and not in his prime yet. That is scary for the rest of the NHL because his play is only going to improve.
The Hurricanes are overpaying for Slavin, but they had to. They know how significant he is to the defense. The way this deal pays off for the Hurricanes is if he stays healthy, they reach the Stanley Cup Final with him, and win a cup or two. On paper, this is an excellent deal and hopefully Slavin can help this team win a cup.
What do you think of the Carolina Hurricanes locking up Jaccob Slavin?
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