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Jaccob Slavin

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.

Injury Updates: Penguins, Dube, Larkin, Slavin

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The Penguins could get center Evgeni Malkin back for one of the next two games in their first-round series against the Islanders but the same can’t be said for goaltender Casey DeSmith.  Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Malkin accompanied the team to New York while DeSmith did not.  Malkin is believed to be dealing with a recurrence of the knee trouble that caused him to miss most of the second half of the season while DeSmith has missed the last two-plus weeks due to an undisclosed injury.  Game three of that series goes on Thursday.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • Flames winger Dillon Dube is in concussion protocol after being injured in today’s regular season finale against Vancouver, relays Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson (Twitter link). The 22-year-old is supposed to join Team Canada for the upcoming World Championships but unless he is cleared quickly, he may no longer be able to participate.
  • Red Wings center Dylan Larkin won’t need surgery due to the neck injury he suffered late in the season, mentions Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. He expects to be able to resume training in a month and should be ready to go for 2021-22 where he’ll hope to rebound from a quiet campaign that saw him pick up just 23 points in 44 games.
  • Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin was out of the lineup for tonight’s second game against Nashville. As Michael Smith of Carolina’s team website notes (Twitter link), the blueliner will be a game-time decision for a while with Slavin ultimately making the decision on when he’ll be able to suit up.  He suffered a lower-body injury in their final regular season game and clearly, he has not quite recovered from it just yet.

Snapshots: Blues, Varlamov, Hurricanes, Tortorella

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The St. Louis Blues added their third player on the COVID-19 protocol list Saturday when leading scorer David Perron found himself on the list, but so far there are no concerns about cancelling practice or postponing games, according to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription required).

“There is always concern when Players or Club staff test positive for COVID-19,” Daly wrote in an email. “The level of concern is always a function of the precise circumstances involved. “At the current time, there is no consideration being given to postponing games.”

The Blues held an optional skate Saturday with many veterans taking a maintenance day off, but flew to Denver after the practice to get ready for their playoff game Monday.

  • Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports that New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov will practice again on Monday before a decision is made regarding his status for Game 2. Varlamov missed Game 1 due to a lower-body injury, although head coach Barry Trotz said he was taken out of the lineup due to precautionary reasons. The coach said he had to make a decision Saturday night and chose to take Varlamov totally out of the lineup. Cory Schneider served as the backup to Ilya Sorokin, who led New York to a overtime victory Sunday.
  • Raleigh News & Observer’s Chip Alexander reports that several injured players were back on the ice Sunday for practice, including Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and Cedric Paquette. Slavin was considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury and sat out the regular season finale. Pesce also sat out the regular season finale with an undisclosed injury. Paquette, on the other hand, had missed the last six games of the season with an undisclosed injury. Carolina faces off against Nashville on Monday.
  • The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required) writes that former Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella, who split with the Blue Jackets more than a week ago, tried to step down from his head coaching position last season. One main reason the veteran coach decided to come back for one final season as coach was due to the urging of Nick Foligno. The captain sat down with the coach and convinced him to give the veteran core one more chance.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 01/29/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. The list is in:

Carolina – Jaccob Slavin, Jesper Fast
Chicago – Adam Boqvist, Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Wallmark
Columbus – Patrik Laine*
Detroit – Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri, Sam Gagner, Jon Merrill, Filip Zadina
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte*
New Jersey – Mackenzie Blackwood, Aaron Dell, Travis Zajac*
Vegas – Alex Pietrangelo
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Samsonov
Winnipeg – Pierre-Luc Dubois

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Warren Foegele, Carolina Hurricanes; Teuvo Teravainen, Carolina Hurricanes; Jordan Martinook, Carolina Hurricanes; Curtis McElhinney, Tampa Bay Lightning; Tucker Poolman, Winnipeg Jets

Zajac’s appearance comes as no surprise after the Devils announced this morning he would not travel with them to their next two games. He joins Blackwood and Dell on the sidelines. Lizotte’s addition is a bit concerning, given that he took part in last night’s game against the Minnesota Wild after Athanasiou was already ruled out.

The big news is the three Carolina players that are out of the protocol, along with Laine finally arriving in Columbus to start his 48-hour quarantine.

Importantly, no other Golden Knights players appeared on the list today, a good sign that they can potentially get back on the ice in the coming days. The league had reserved judgement on their next few games after postponing Thursday’s affair against the St. Louis Blues. Pietrangelo remains the only player held out, though their training facilities are still locked down.

*denotes new addition

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 01/28/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. The Montreal Canadiens are still listed as TBA, but the rest of the list is in:

Carolina – Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin, Teuvo Teravainen, Jesper Fast
Chicago – Adam Boqvist, Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Wallmark
Detroit – Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri, Sam Gagner, Jon Merrill, Filip Zadina
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou*
New Jersey – Mackenzie Blackwood, Aaron Dell*
Tampa Bay –  Curtis McElhinney
Vegas – Alex Pietrangelo*
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Samsonov
Winnipeg – Tucker Poolman, Pierre-Luc Dubois

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: None

The huge news is obviously Pietrangelo, who is the mystery player that has caused the Golden Knights and Blues to postpone their game this evening. The former St. Louis captain played on Tuesday night against his old team, but now finds himself out along with the rest of the Golden Knights coaching staff. It is not clear if Pietrangelo has tested positive or how long he will be held out. The Blues do not have anyone listed and took their morning skate as usual today.

Athanasiou’s appearance is also news, after playing on Tuesday night in Minnesota. The speedy forward has been one of the Kings’ best players so far with five points in seven games, but now will at least miss tonight’s rematch against the Wild.

Dell’s appearance is actually good news for the Devils, as he arrives in New Jersey and can start his quarantine after being claimed off waivers earlier this month.

*denotes new addition

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 01/27/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. The Pittsburgh Penguins are still listed as TBA, but the rest of the list is in:

Carolina – Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin, Teuvo Teravainen, Jesper Fast
Chicago – Adam Boqvist, Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Wallmark*
Detroit – Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri, Sam Gagner, Jon Merrill, Filip Zadina
New Jersey – Mackenzie Blackwood
Tampa Bay –  Curtis McElhinney
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Samsonov
Winnipeg – Tucker Poolman, Pierre-Luc Dubois

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Jesper Bratt, New Jersey Devils

Bratt’s removal is huge news for the Devils, who have been waiting for him all season. The 22-year-old signed a two-year contract on January 10 and needed to travel from Sweden and serve out his quarantine in the U.S. He’ll be on the ice tomorrow, though it’s not clear when exactly he’ll make it back into the lineup.

Wallmark becomes the latest Blackhawk to be placed on the list, and the only player added today. He had already been scratched the last two games, but now will be forced out of the lineup for the time being.

The Vegas Golden Knights are still expected to have GM Kelly McCrimmon and the AHL coaching staff behind the bench when they take on the St. Louis Blues tomorrow night, meaning that the regular staff is also still self-isolating “out of an abundance of caution.”

*denotes new addition

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 01/26/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. The Los Angeles Kings and Montreal Canadiens are still listed as TBA, but the rest of the list is in:

Carolina – Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin, Teuvo Teravainen, Jesper Fast
Chicago – Adam Boqvist, Alex DeBrincat
Detroit – Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri, Sam Gagner, Jon Merrill, Filip Zadina
New Jersey – Jesper Bratt, Mackenzie Blackwood
Tampa Bay –  Curtis McElhinney
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Samsonov
Winnipeg – Tucker Poolman, Pierre-Luc Dubois

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Blake Comeau, Dallas Stars; Jordan Staal, Carolina Hurricanes

After missing the first part of the season following 17 players testing positive, the Stars appear to be out of the woods. This is the first day since their season began that they do not have a player listed. The Hurricanes also received some good news, as Staal, the first positive test among their group, has been removed from the list.

This also marks the first day in quite some time that the list did not have any new player additions. However, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the Vegas Golden Knights will be isolating their coaching staff. GM Kelly McCrimmon will take over coaching duties for the time being and is expected to be joined by the Henderson Silver Knights staff. The move was made out of “an abundance of caution,” not necessarily a positive COVID-19 test result. This is certainly not the first time behind a bench for McCrimmon, who was the head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL for long stretches spanning over several decades.

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