Confirmed Signing with Link: [CAR] Jaccob Slavin (7 years, $5.3M AAV)

[SenzZen]

Canes fans must be pleased with this. The only way this can go wrong is if he Girardis on them, but that's a long shot.

Slavin ranked second in the NHL in takeaways, first among league defensemen in shorthanded points and tied for 10th among league blueliners in plus/minus.

He's a beast.

Oh look- a thread where these stats mean something...

Is the Lidstrom trophy for best defensive? Because he was the best defensive defenseman in the league in his prime.

It's really hard for some to get a read on defencemen. And annoying to read about.

Why not go for 8 years? Interesting contract for a young promising player. Wish the Habs did this with Galchenyuk.

UFA years jack up the AAV. I'd venture a guess that year 8 would have bumped this AAV by at least $1M.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I'm one of the Canes fans that is probably in the minority, and probably going to be wrong, but I don't see the offensive upside of Slavin. Granted, the role he played this year was facing the toughest competition with the least Ozone starts, with very little PP time, on an offensively anemic team, but his shot seems inaccurate and needs work and as smooth and natural as he is on the defensive side of things, he seems more "clunky" to me on the offensive side of things. Not so much on the rush or in open ice, more-so when set up in the zone.

That said his hands, skating and skill are pretty darn good and he's a guy that works hard on his games, so I can see why many think his offensive game will come around more. Problem is, with Faulk, Hanifin and eventually Bean, I don't see him ever getting a lot of PP time nor prime offensive opportunities. He'll be getting 20 min / night at ES and another 3 min / night on the PK, unless of course a guy like Fleury steps in the role on the PK, which he very well could based on how he played in Charlotte.

I don't think he'll have goal-scoring upside. He just doesn't have that tool in his toolbox, hence the extremely low goal totals we've seen to date. Maybe that will improve with time, but TBH I'd be surprised if he ever gets beyond the 10 goal range.

Where I see him showing a lot of promise, is in his QB'ing of rushes. He's a pretty good passer and gets things moving out of his own zone effectively, and there have been times where he looked downright nasty coming across the offensive blue line and setting up possession. Toward the halfway point of last season he was suddenly unafraid to cut into the zone with speed and handle the puck through traffic. If that was more than just a short-term trend, he could be quite valuable as a transition specialist and driver of offensive possession -- which is a pretty valuable offensive profile for a guy whose other major role is to end opposing possessions. Tilting the ice against the best opposing players is a good way to turn the outcome of a game.

But no, I don't think he's ever going to get big PP time. He's just not effective in an in-zone offensive situation where possession is a given.

 

[Lempo]

Oh look- a thread where these stats mean something...

Yeah I don't know about the rest but +/- and being among your team's top three in your position in it means up to $212.500 in Schedule A Performance Bonuses, where available.

Last season he was tied at 23 with Pesce and they were the only ones above 0; the season before that he was the only one above 0.

 

[Unsustainable]

I don't think he'll have goal-scoring upside. He just doesn't have that tool in his toolbox, hence the extremely low goal totals we've seen to date. Maybe that will improve with time, but TBH I'd be surprised if he ever gets beyond the 10 goal range.

Where I see him showing a lot of promise, is in his QB'ing of rushes. He's a pretty good passer and gets things moving out of his own zone effectively, and there have been times where he looked downright nasty coming across the offensive blue line and setting up possession. Toward the halfway point of last season he was suddenly unafraid to cut into the zone with speed and handle the puck through traffic. If that was more than just a short-term trend, he could be quite valuable as a transition specialist and driver of offensive possession -- which is a pretty valuable offensive profile for a guy whose other major role is to end opposing possessions. Tilting the ice against the best opposing players is a good way to turn the outcome of a game.

But no, I don't think he's ever going to get big PP time. He's just not effective in an in-zone offensive situation where possession is a given.

I see him with a lot of secondary assists, and primary assists on breakaways vs goals.

I loved watching him takeaway the entire left side of the ice when players tried to enter the zone and 90% of the time he came away with the puck. Hardly ever did that player drive up the ice on him and cut inside.

But he can get the flow moving back up the ice, with Aho and others, he will see an increase in assists, but I doubt he ever surpasses 15 goals in a year, but could very well end up with 35+ assists a season.

Just the way he controls the gap, and takes away time and space on very good players is just want fascinates me about his poise.

 

[cptjeff]

I see him with a lot of secondary assists, and primary assists on breakaways vs goals.

I loved watching him takeaway the entire left side of the ice when players tried to enter the zone and 90% of the time he came away with the puck. Hardly ever did that player drive up the ice on him and cut inside.

But he can get the flow moving back up the ice, with Aho and others, he will see an increase in assists, but I doubt he ever surpasses 15 goals in a year, but could very well end up with 35+ assists a season.

Just the way he controls the gap, and takes away time and space on very good players is just want fascinates me about his poise.

It's always amazing to see the league's best offensive players skating hard down the ice, all of a sudden Slavin is there, and with no big hit, no fuss, no drama, no nothing, Slavin has the puck and is moving in the opposite direction. He doesn't bang guys into next week, he just skates up and then they don't have the puck anymore. He just makes it look so damn easy.

 

[Roboturner913]

I don't think he has huge offensive upside either. 30-35 points a year, mostly assists. He's pretty much a Vlasic clone, his offense comes from forcing turnovers, stealing the puck from people and making a first quick transition pass. He does skate well and can carry the puck all over the ice but that's not the best use of his particular talents when you have guys like Faulk and Hanifin around.

 

[Svechhammer]

He won't have major offensive upside, but that's not what Carolina wants out of him anyway. He's the guy they have who keeps the puck away from his own net, and he does an extremely good job of that. If he continues on this trend he'll be a guy who shuts down the opponents offense whenever he is on the ice and probably pot 50 points a year, most coming via assist.

If you want guys who contribute offensively while still playing good defense, that's where Hanifin, Faulk, Bean, Fleury, etc come in to play. Maybe not as dominant pure defensively but should produce enough offensively to still tilt the ice in the Canes favor when they're out there.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

It's pretty absurd that this contract apparently buys up 4 UFA years.

 

[THall4]

Slavin ranked second in the NHL in takeaways, first among league defensemen in shorthanded points and tied for 10th among league blueliners in plus/minus.

He's a beast.

And his QofC is outstanding