Prior to today’s game against the Avalanche, the Hurricanes announced they placed star defenseman Jaccob Slavin on injured reserve earlier in the week – Tuesday, to be exact – due to a lower-body injury. They’re operating with an open roster spot, which they haven’t filled, but the team said his placement was for the purposes of “roster flexibility.”
Slavin hasn’t played since Oct. 11, so he is eligible to come off IR at any time. There’s been no update on his status since the beginning of Carolina’s lengthy Western Conference road trip, which started back on Oct. 14 against the Sharks, in which they said he wouldn’t join the team to start the haul, but weren’t too concerned about the severity of his injury.
Carolina has weathered the storm without their top defender, only suffering their first loss of the season on Monday against the Golden Knights. They’re 3-1-0 without Slavin in the lineup and are still only allowing 2.25 goals against per game while controlling 58.9% of shot attempts at even strength. In two games before exiting the lineup, Slavin had a minus-one rating with 10 shot attempts in 18:32 of ice time averaged across the pair of appearances. His possession numbers were pristine as always, logging a 66.1 CF% with just a 40.0 oZS% at even strength despite being outscored 2-1.
The 31-year-old has finished top-20 in Norris Trophy voting in every season since 2016-17, his second in the league. While his offensive production dipped to 27 points in 80 games last year with a +16 rating, his lowest in six years, he still finished top-10 in Norris voting for the third time in his career. He’s never been a huge minutes-muncher, especially not in the past few years as the Canes have stripped him of power-play minutes in favor of names like Shayne Gostisbehere and now K’Andre Miller, and justifiably so. He still remains one of the most feared shutdown threats in the league, but with the Hurricanes’ established possession-heavy system, they’re able to usher in a next-man-up mentality rather seamlessly.
Slavin’s absence has allowed for names like offseason pickup Mike Reilly and rookie Charles-Alexis Legault to make their Hurricanes debuts, but the greatest recipient of his vacated minutes has been Miller, who’s averaging a career-high 23:32 per game and has a 2-2–4 scoring line in six showings to begin his tenure in Raleigh. It’s looking even more like Slavin will miss the final two games of the Canes’ road trip, but could be targeting a comeback when Carolina returns home on Oct. 28 against Vegas.
Take your time Jacob , the team needs you more in the second half of the season anyway,