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Jaccob Slavin

NHL Announces Finalists For 2024 Lady Byng Trophy

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The NHL continues to announce the finalists for their end-of-season awards.  Today, they revealed the three contenders for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, given annually to “the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”.  The finalists are Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, Canucks center Elias Pettersson, and Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin.

This is the third time that Matthews is up for the award, having finished second in voting in 2019-20 and third in 2020-21.  The 26-year-old led the NHL in goals for the third time in four years this season, notching a career-best 69 along with 107 points, also a new personal best, helping lead Toronto to their eighth straight playoff appearance.  He had 20 penalty minutes this season despite having the seventh-most ice time among all NHL forwards; that PIM total was the lowest among the NHL’s top-15 scorers.

Pettersson, meanwhile, is up for the award for the first time and is the first Canucks nominee in franchise history.  While the 25-year-old saw his numbers dip this year compared to last season, he still managed to finish third on Vancouver in goals (34), assists (55), and points (89).  Pettersson took just six minor penalties this season and finished 19th in total ice time for forwards.

As for Slavin, he’s a finalist for the Lady Byng for the third time.  He won in 2020-21 and finished second in voting the following year.  The 30-year-old has yet to reach the 20-PIM mark in a single season in his nine-year career and was assessed just four minors this season for the second straight year.  Slavin logged just shy of 21 minutes a night on the back end for the Hurricanes, one of the top defensive units in the NHL this season.  His penalty minute total is the lowest among players who logged at least 1,600 minutes of ice time this season.

The award was voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the regular season.  The winner will be revealed next month.

2024 King Clancy Trophy Nominees Announced

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Today, the NHL announced the 32 nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”

Each team submitted their nominee; they are as follows:

Anaheim Ducks: Cam Fowler
Arizona Coyotes: Nick Bjugstad
Boston Bruins: Linus Ullmark
Buffalo Sabres: Alex Tuch
Calgary Flames: Andrew Mangiapane
Carolina Hurricanes: Jaccob Slavin
Chicago Blackhawks: Connor Murphy
Colorado Avalanche: Cale Makar
Columbus Blue Jackets: Zach Werenski
Dallas Stars: Jake Oettinger
Detroit Red Wings: Dylan Larkin
Edmonton Oilers: Darnell Nurse
Florida Panthers: Aleksander Barkov
Los Angeles Kings: Kevin Fiala
Minnesota Wild: Marc-Andre Fleury
Montreal Canadiens: Nick Suzuki
Nashville Predators: Roman Josi
New Jersey Devils: Jack Hughes
New York Islanders: Anders Lee
New York Rangers: Jacob Trouba
Ottawa Senators: Brady Tkachuk
Philadelphia Flyers: Scott Laughton
Pittsburgh Penguins: Bryan Rust
San Jose Sharks: Luke Kunin
Seattle Kraken: Jaden Schwartz
St. Louis Blues: Brayden Schenn
Tampa Bay Lightning: Nick Paul
Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews
Vancouver Canucks: Quinn Hughes
Vegas Golden Knights: Jack Eichel
Washington Capitals: Tom Wilson
Winnipeg Jets: Josh Morrissey

Unlike most awards which are voted on by the players or media, the winner of this award is selected by a committee consisting of Commissioner Gary Bettman and former winners of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and the NHL Foundation Player Award, one that was awarded from 1997-98 through 2016-17.

Last year’s winner was Calgary’s Mikael Backlund.  The winner for this season will be revealed in late June.

Injury Notes: Slavin, Brodin, Raymond

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Carolina Hurricanes top defender Jaccob Slavin is returning to the lineup tonight against the New York Rangers, according to Hurricanes content producer Walt Ruff.

Slavin had missed the past six games before the All-Star break with a lower-body injury. His last game was on January 19, leaving late in a matchup against the Minnesota Wild. Carolina has won all six games in Slavin’s absence, three of them in regulation, and they’ll look to continue a seven-game winning streak tonight in Raleigh. Slavin, averaging over 22 minutes per game this season, is expected to return to his spot on the top pairing alongside Brent Burns.

  • Another important shutdown defenseman is returning to the lineup: Jonas Brodin of the Minnesota Wild. The Athletic’s Michael Russo notes he’s set to return to the lineup tonight against the New Jersey Devils alongside Matt Dumba on the second pairing. Brodin missed the team’s last two games with a lower-body injury. The 29-year-old has two goals and eight points in 43 games this season, posting a +6 rating and 22:32 average time on ice.
  • Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond is absent from today’s game against the Vancouver Canucks with a lower-body injury, ending his 132-game iron man streak. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press notes that Raymond suffered the injury in a collision with teammate Ben Chiarot yesterday during practice. Raymond’s status is day-to-day. The sophomore forward has 15 goals and 33 points in 50 games this season.

Injury Updates: Ekblad, Bennett, Slavin, Foligno

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Just as the Florida Panthers have begun to make a real push to climb the Eastern Conference standings, the team has been hit with a rash of major injuries. The team is down to an Alex Lyon–Mack Guzda tandem in net, and now it seems they could be without their top defenseman. The Panthers have announced that 2014 first-overall pick Aaron Ekblad and 2014 fourth-overall pick Sam Bennett each suffered an upper-body injury in tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild.

Per the team, Eklbad is doubtful to return, while Bennett has been ruled out. Ekblad is no stranger to injury troubles, as he has missed chunks of time in each of the past two seasons. Ekblad hasn’t escaped the Panthers’ team-wide regression from their President’s Trophy-winning form of last season, but he still has scored 20 points in 36 games and averages 24 minutes a night. While the emergence of Brandon Montour might help the team weather any extended Ekblad absence, this news is still unwelcome for a club desperate to gain ground on other contenders.

Some other injury notes from tonight’s games:

  • The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that defenseman Jaccob Slavin has suffered a lower-body injury, and will miss tonight’s game against the New York Islanders. With Slavin out, the Hurricanes will be missing one of the NHL’s best defensive defensemen. Offseason trade acquisition Dylan Coghlan has moved into the lineup in Slavin’s place, and will have a chance to put some quality play forward in the absence of Carolina’s top blueliner.
  • The Minnesota Wild have announced that forward Marcus Foligno will miss tonight’s game against the Panthers due to a non-COVID illness. While this is unlikely to keep him out of the lineup for any extended period, it does come as another piece of bad news in a difficult season for Foligno. The 31-year-old forward scored 23 goals last season and has seen much of that offense dry up this year, as he’s scoring at just a nine-goal 82-game pace.

2022 Lady Byng Finalists Announced

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The NHL continues its daily revealing of award finalists and today’s is the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.  The award is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is given “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.”

This year’s finalists are Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets, Jared Spurgeon of the Minnesota Wild, and Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Connor, a finalist for the first time, put together an incredible season even as the Jets struggled to take off. The 25-year-old sniper potted 47 goals and 93 points in 79 games, and, perhaps most impressively, recorded just four minutes in penalties. Two minutes in November for slashing, and two minutes in March for hooking were the only times Connor was forced to spend in the sin bin, an eye-popping feat given he played nearly 22 minutes a night for Winnipeg.

If the Winnipeg forward wants to win, though, he’ll have to go through a pair of defensemen that are certainly not new to the award.

Spurgeon, last year’s runner-up, put together another season that seems to boggle the mind, recording just ten penalty minutes despite playing more than 21 minutes a night on defense. In 772 NHL games, Spurgeon has amassed just 130 penalty minutes, and has been nominated for the Byng on eight different occasions. Add in his ten-goal, 40-point campaign, and you certainly have a player who combined gentlemanly conduct and a high standard of play during the regular season. Remember, those who want to point out his playoff cross-check, that this voting is done before the postseason commences.

Slavin, last year’s winner after taking just two minutes in penalties all season, decided to goon-it-up this year with a total of ten in 79 games. The Hurricanes defenseman is the perfect blend of mobility, positioning, and stick checking ability, ending countless plays without ever losing ground. He reached a new high in points with 42, while once again logging more than 23 minutes a night for Carolina. Nominated for the Lady Byng in each of the last five seasons, he could become the first player to win the award in consecutive years since Martin St. Louis.

Who should win the 2022 Lady Byng?
Kyle Connor 51.36% (265 votes)
Jared Spurgeon 25.58% (132 votes)
Jaccob Slavin 23.06% (119 votes)
Total Votes: 516

Tony DeAngelo Out Weeks With Upper-Body Injury

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The Carolina Hurricanes have had one of the most valuable defensive contracts in the league this season with Tony DeAngelo, signing him to a one-year, $1MM deal after his public exit from the New York Rangers. DeAngelo has been brilliant for the Hurricanes, racking up 40 points in 43 games while averaging close to 20 minutes a night. One of the most effective powerplay quarterbacks in the league, 15 of his 31 assists have come with the man advantage. Carolina will have to find a new player to run PP1, though, as DeAngelo will miss about a month with an injury according to head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who spoke with reporters including Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer.

For now, DeAngelo’s regular partner Jaccob Slavin has taken over the quarterback duties on the top unit, with Ethan Bear joining the second group. Slavin is a capable player but there should be at least some concern about him taking over the majority of the powerplay time, given how important he is in other areas. There’s no one in the league that has logged more short-handed ice time than Slavin, who has close to 170 minutes on the penalty kill through 48 games this season. Teams have scored just seven goals against the Hurricanes during that time, showing just how effective he is at it.

With that in mind, losing DeAngelo could have a sort of cascade effect on the Carolina blue line, putting players in spots that they aren’t perfectly suited for, or taxing the best defensive players even further. Brett Pesce has joined Slavin on the first pair, while Jalen Chatfield slides in beside Brady Skjei on the second. That’s certainly not a perfect situation, and one that will likely lead to more speculation as the trade deadline approaches. If DeAngelo is out for a month he might miss up to 14 of the team’s remaining 32 games, meaning a defensive addition may be necessary just to shore up the depth.

Of course, Carolina is one of many teams operating in long-term injured reserve relief space–this time afforded by Jake Gardiner’s chronic back issues–meaning any addition would have to be carefully determined.

Jaccob Slavin Placed In COVID Protocol

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Perhaps it’s a good thing that their game against the Philadelphia Flyers tonight was canceled. The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that Jaccob Slavin is now in the COVID protocol, meaning he would have missed the game anyway. Slavin is the only Hurricanes player on the protocol at the moment, as though Brendan Smith hasn’t played since the middle of December, he returned to practice before the new year.

If there’s one player you wouldn’t want to take out of the Hurricanes lineup it’s probably Slavin, who has truly been a do-it-all star for the team this season. The 27-year-old defenseman has 18 points in 33 games, is averaging nearly 24 minutes a night, and leads all NHL players in short-handed ice time. In fact, his 129:13 is nearly 12 minutes ahead of the second-place Ryan McDonagh’s 117:55, showing just how important he is to the Hurricanes’ penalty-killing effort.

With tonight’s game postponed, the Hurricanes will next take the ice on Thursday for a match with the Columbus Blue Jackets. If Slavin has tested positive, he’ll miss that game and Saturday’s match against the Vancouver Canucks at a minimum. He could potentially return for next week’s game against Boston, but that is still dependant on him testing out of the protocol in the meantime.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Jaccob Slavin Wins 2021 Lady Byng Trophy

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The NHL has announced the winner of another major regular season award. Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes has been awarded the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, given “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”. Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Jared Spurgeon of the Minnesota Wild were the other finalists.

Slavin, 27, received 73 of the 100 first-place votes after recording just a single minor penalty in 52 games. He also becomes just the fourth defenseman to ever win the award and first since Brian Campbell in 2012. Slavin averaged nearly 23 minutes a night for the Hurricanes, carrying heavy defensive responsibility on a nightly basis. His career-low of two penalty minutes is incredible, yet somewhat unsurprising from a player that has never collected even 20 in a single season.

The top five were rounded out by Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov and Rangers’ star Artemi Panarin. 57 players in total received at least one vote, but Slavin was included on all 100 ballots. The runaway winner finished well ahead of second-place Spurgeon, who received just one first-place vote but 17 second-place ballots.

This is the first major regular season award for Slavin, who finished fourth in Lady Byng voting and fifth in Norris Trophy voting a year ago.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2020-21 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Finalists Announced

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The NHL continues its daily revealing of award finalists and today’s is the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.  The award is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is given “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”.  The finalists for the award are Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, and Wild blueliner Jared Spurgeon.

Matthews led the league in goals this season with 41, picking up his first career Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy along the way.  He logged plenty of ice time, finishing fifth among NHL forwards in ATOI at 21:33 per game and despite that, he only collected ten penalty minutes over his 50 games this season.  Among the top 25 scorers in the league, only Rangers winger Artemi Panarin had fewer penalty minutes (six) although he also played in eight fewer games.  It’s the second straight season that Matthews is a finalist for the award after finishing second in balloting last year.

Slavin, meanwhile, has been quite disciplined in terms of staying out of the box throughout his six-year NHL career but took that to a whole new level this season.  In 52 games this season, he logged 22:59 per game and had a grand total of one minor penalty.  That infraction was for delay of game.  Through his 429-game career, Slavin has a total of 60 penalty minutes.  It’s his first time being a finalist for this award (he was fourth in voting in 2020) but at the rate he’s going, it won’t be his last.

As for Spurgeon, he has recorded no more than 20 penalty minutes in a single season in his 11-year career and was only called for three minor penalties in 2020-21 despite averaging over 22 minutes a game; the only player to play that much and spend less time in the sin bin was Slavin.  This is also Spurgeon’s first time as a finalist for the award although he has received a vote in each of the previous six years.

The award winners will be revealed throughout the final two rounds of the playoffs with the dates and order of announcements still to be determined.

Central Notes: Kucherov, Sergachev, Slavin, Knight

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The Tampa Bay Lightning may have taken a 3-1 lead against the Florida Panthers Saturday, but at a cost as Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev were both injured during the game. While there have been no updates on either players’ status for Game 5, The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) writes that early indications are that neither injury is considered serious.

Kucherov, who left Saturday’s game after being slashed in the knee by Florida’s Anthony Duclair, also suffered a head-to-head injury when he was shoved into goaltender Chris Driedger. Smith writes that the knee injury isn’t considered serious. Sergachev, however, who left the game with a head injury after a shoulder-to-shoulder hit against the boards from Patric Hornqvist. The belief is that he will be fine, although there is no word if either player would be made available for Game 5.

Smith also notes that there is nothing expected from the Department of Player Safety on anything that happened in Game 4.

  • It looks like the Carolina Hurricanes will be without their top defenseman again Sunday as head coach Rod Brind’Amour said the team will have no lineup changes including no Jaccob Slavin, according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. Slavin who has missed Games 2 & 3 so far due to a lower-body injury, is still considered to be day-to-day, but Brind’Amour stated that he is not ruling out the blueliner for the rest of the series. Slavin led the team during the regular season in ATOI with 22:58 and was second on the team in plus/minus with a +22.
  • Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said that he will not name a goaltender for Game 5 until Monday, but rookie goaltender Spencer Knight is a possibility to start, according to George Richards of FloridaHockeyNow. While that may not sound like much, Knight was in the starter’s net for practice Monday, while Sergei Bobrovsky and Driedger were sharing the other net. Neither Bobrovsky and Driedger have impressed so far in four playoff games. Each netminder has made three appearances with Driedger being the better of the two, boasting a 3.70 GAA and a .871 save percentage, while Bobrovsky carried a 5.33 GAA and a .841 save percentage. Knight, who fared well in four regular season appearances, could get an opportunity to try to spark a team that’s close to elimination.

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