RALEIGH, NC. - The National Hockey League today announced that Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin has been selected as one of the three finalists for the 2023-24 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, given annually to the player who best combines sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct with a high standard of playing ability. Slavin has now been named a finalist for the award for the third time in his NHL/
Hurricanes career. He became just the fourth defenseman in NHL history to win the Lady Byng Trophy in 2020-21 and finished as the runner-up for the award in 2021-22.
The other finalists for the 2023-24 Lady Byng Trophy are Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews and Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson. Slavin is one of two players in franchise history to win the Lady Byng Trophy (2020-21), alongside Ron Francis (2001-02), and he is the only Whalers/Hurricanes player to be selected as a finalist for the award multiple times. He could join four-time Lady Byng Trophy winner Red Kelly (1950-51, 1952-54, 1960-61) as the second blueliner to win the award multiple times.
Slavin, 30, tallied 37 points (6g, 31a) in 81 regular-season games in 2023-24, reaching the 30-assist mark for the third time. He led all Hurricanes defensemen with a career-high 34 even-strength points (4g, 3a) and finished tied for the team lead in shorthanded goals (2), matching Mark Howe’s franchise career record for defensemen (4). With 272 points (49g, 223a) in 665 career games, Slavin also passed Dave Babych and Justin Faulk for the most assists and points, respectively, of any blueliner in franchise history. The 6’3”, 213-pound defenseman logged 20:56 of ice time, finishing above 20:00 for the ninth time in as many seasons, and he led the team in takeaways (71) and blocked shots (120). He also logged a team-high 2:38 of shorthanded ice time per game, anchoring the league’s top penalty kill (86.4%). Slavin ranked ninth in the NHL in takeaways this season, trailing only Colton Parayko (St. Louis, 73) for the most of any defenseman, yet he was assessed just eight penalty minutes for the second straight campaign.
Since debuting with Carolina in 2015-16, Slavin has earned the second-most takeaways of any NHL skater (638) while being assessed the fewest penalty minutes of any blueliner with at least 400 games played over that span (86). Among all defensemen to log at least 300 career games, his 0:07 of penalty minutes per game ranks tied with Bill Quackenbush for the lowest mark in NHL history. Slavin (3) and Quackenbush (2) are two of just five NHL blueliners to be named a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy in multiple seasons, alongside Kelly (7), Nicklas Lidstrom (6), and Jared Spurgeon (2). The Erie, Colo., native also holds franchise records for playoff assists (28) and points (34) by a defenseman, with just 10 penalty minutes in his 65 career postseason games, and he posted the longest career-opening streak of playoff games without a penalty by any defenseman in league history (36 games).
