Before Matthew Tkachuk and his fiery Panthers charge into the Eastern Conference Final, we gotta give some well-earned flowers to the other side of the rink. Carolina’s own silent storm, Jaccob Slavin. Way back in February, the NHL dropped its first-ever 4 Nations Face-Off, and it was electric. Canada edged out the USA in a nail-biting OT win, but while the spotlight danced around the flashy scorers, Slavin straight-up stole the show. Dude was dismantling plays, locking up superstars like McDavid and Crosby like it was light work. He averaged more than 23 minutes a game, barely let a puck breathe near the net, and turned every game into a highlight reel of stick wizardry and silent stops.
Even his own coach Rod Brind’Amour said it best: “Is defending a goal as important? We know it is.” Even players like Auston Matthews and Mikko Rantanen were practically speechless about Slavin’s hockey IQ, saying he’s got the best stick work in the league. The kind of defender who doesn’t need flash to make noise. And now, days away from the Panthers-Hurricanes rematch, Matthew Tkachuk couldn’t help but tip his hat. Having teamed up with Slavin during the 4 Nations, he got a front-row seat to the calm chaos that the Canes defender brings every night.
When asked if he needed that Four Nations run to really grasp how elite Jaccob Slavin is, Matthew Tkachuk didn’t beat around the bush. “Yeah, you seem to get it,” he said, nodding in agreement. “Each game you play, you see something different.” Sure, he’d played against Slavin during the playoffs a couple years back, and yeah, he’d see him occasionally while in the West, but it wasn’t until they were on the same side, repping Team USA, that the full picture clicked. “At that Four Nations, I really saw how unbelievable a player he is,” Tkachuk said. “Defensively, his stick, blocking shots, the little plays he’d make… he got every shot through.” The kind of quiet mastery you don’t really notice until you’re skating right beside it.
He even put Slavin in a league of his own, well, almost. “He reminds me a lot, like him and Forzy, I feel like are very, very similar players. Probably the two best in the league at what they do,” Tkachuk added. It was the “little stuff that people don’t get credit for” that blew him away. The silent shutdowns, the smart clears, the ability to make it all look effortless while neutralizing some of the most dangerous forwards in the world. “You might look at the top point-getters in the league for D, get all the credit… but I mean, he’s right up there for the best in the world.” And from Tkachuk’s tone? That wasn’t just a teammate hyping someone up; that was a guy genuinely impressed by a low-key legend finally getting his shine.
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