It’s official.
Jaccob Slavin’s got wheels.
In Monday’s 6-4 win over the Dallas Stars, the Carolina Hurricanes defenseman set a new top speed for defensemen when he was clocked at 24.19 mph at 13:07 of the second period.
Slavin turned on the jets after his attempted backhand shot ricocheted away from the Dallas crease and started a 2-on-1 the other way for the Stars.
Slavin wrapped around the Dallas net, put his head down and dug in, tearing his way up the ice before eventually catching Stars center and noted speedster himself, Roope Hintz right at the top of the circles in the Canes’ zone.
He disrupted Hintz just enough so that the forward missed his shot and fell to the ice, preventing a dangerous chance from putting Carolina into a further hole.
So not only was Slavin’s play big, but it was pivotal in keeping the score down for when the Canes rallied back in the third period to win 6-4.
Slavin’s burst was also the second fastest one recorded this season, just 0.01 seconds slower than Steven Stamkos’ 24.20 mph burst.
I mean, what can’t Slavin do because in that game, he also threw the body around and had a monster hit on Wyatt Johnston.
The franchise defenseman is one of the best players in the entire NHL and there really isn’t a single defenseman better defensively than him.
This just adds another nice little feather into the cap of an already elite player.
