Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin was once again a key piece to the Canes' defense.
The stalwart defender was dependable and consistent as he typically is and even saw his offensive numbers bounce back up to his second highest career total.
With one year remaining on his current deal, will he perhaps be looking to extend early once July 1 rolls around?
The Canes held their first round of exit interviews on Saturday following the conclusion of their 2023-24 season which ended after losing in six games to the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs.
Here's what Slavin had to say:
On the way the season ended and the potential roster changes coming: It's never fun to go out like that. It's not good to dig yourself a 3-0 hole though to start a series, especially against a team like that with the caliber of players they have and the caliber of goalie that they have. It was an uphill battle all the way. So that's always a bummer. And then as far as the team goes and contracts expiring, that's never fun to have that happen especially with the amount of guys that we have up. The best case scenario, you bring them all back, but obviously most of those guys all deserve to make more money because they all played really, really well in their time here. So I hope we can bring them all back, but that's a bummer because everybody in this locker room is good character guys and are good friends. So it's never a fun part of the business.
On the pitch to guys to stay: I don't think there's any pitch that needs to be made. They've been here and played here and know what this team's about and what this city's about and they know what this locker room is about. So I don't think there's a pitch that needs to be made as much as it's they want to be back here, but you can't pay everybody. Especially with how much guys deserve to be paid. Like I said, they all played extremely well and deserve pay raises. It'll be a busy summer for the team.
On if he's had conversations about signing an extension: Obviously I love it here, so I don't want to go anywhere. We'll see what happens there.
On if he thinks it will get done: I would hope so, but I haven't had to deal with that for a long time now and so we'll see how it all shakes out, but I love it here.
On if he would consider taking a pay cut on a new deal: We'll see what shakes out with that. I love it here, my family's here, my roots are obviously not from here, but we've settled roots here. I think it's going to be fair for both sides.
On how he felt his season went: I think it was a normal season. It wasn't anything special but at the same time, I like to play a consistent game and obviously give God all the glory through the ups and the downs. The times I play well and the times I don't. So overall it was a fine season. Playoffs you always wish you could have done this better or that better, but as a whole, I think it was fine.
On if the Rod Brind'Amour contract situation was a distraction at all in the playoffs: I didn't think about that once, so I guess that would dispute that.
On Brind'Amour's contract situation [pre-extension]: I'm confident in it. He's one of the main pieces that turned this organization around from where it was when I first got here. I think anyone would want him to stay and as well, I know he wants to be here. I'm confident it will get done. He's a great coach, a great friend, a great leader so I would love for him to be back.
On if he'd want to see the current playoff format changed at all: Every round is hard. It doesn't necessarily get easier, but sometimes those first rounds are the harder rounds. It's just how it goes. To be the best you have to beat the best so at some point you have to do that. Whether that's the second round, third round or fourth round, whatever it is, you're going to have to beat the best team at some point. We just happened to run into them in the second round. It happens.
On if it's more frustrating now as opposed to years past: I think so. You look at the team we had, this year especially, we had all the pieces to get over that hump. You look at the games we lost, nearly every game was a one-goal game again. It's frustrating to lose games in overtime or lose games in the last period, so it's frustrating in that regard because we're right there. You're right there year after year, but you never get over that hump. So that's frustrating, but at the same time, you look at the team we had and this was definitely the year. If we were going to do it, this was going to be the year out of all the years we've had. So I think from that aspect, it's frustrating.
On what it will take to get over the hump: Winning. And obviously we lost the special teams battle a lot during that series and we have over the past years. So whether that's the penalty kill in the first couple of games or the power play, losing that battle is never a good thing especially at that time of the year. So that's something that will have to be dialed in for all 16 wins that you need to win the Cup. That would be something that would be needed.
On Jake Guentzel: Watching him play every night as opposed to playing against him, you see little aspects of his game that you might not realize when you play against him. I think one of the biggest things for me was just how grindy he really is as a player. He's not afraid to go into the corners and battle hard. I guess when you play against him, you don't notice it as much because you're worried about him and [Sidney Crosby] and a few other guys scoring. So from being able to watch him now, it was nice to see how competitive he is and just how much he doesn't mind getting into those dirty areas.
On tapping into the experiences of guys who have won the Cup before: I think there's obviously momentum that you get in a playoffs and as the playoffs go on you get rolling and you figure out what it takes for your team to win. You can definitely always tap into that. Guys that have done it. I mean we've got multiple Cups in that locker room with the guys we had this year and so those guys knew what it took. It was just a matter of executing and a matter of getting it done.
On his Fight For Freedom campaign: We ended up raising over $1 million so I guess my biggest thanks would just be to the community that poured into it. Obviously we were excited to bring that to the Raleigh community to help with that. We knew that this community is a huge support system and there are so many amazing people here, so thank you to everyone who was able to help join the fight or even just understand what we were fighting for in that regard. So thank you for that. God was faithful through that whole thing. There were moments probably early on where we were like, 'Oh man, we might not reach this goal at all,' but then we ended up surpassing that $1 million goal and it was awesome. It was a huge celebration there at the end of the year and so it was just really cool to see how it all came together. IGM is going to be using that money to continue to combat sexual exploitation of children online in the Philippines. It's a long process, but they're doing really good work over there and they've continued to do amazing work around the world. Just being able to support an organization like that is awesome and really fun.
On what he's learned from playing alongside Brent Burns: He's awesome. His love for the game is probably one of the highest I've ever seen. Jagger, his 13-year-old kid, 12-year-old kid whatever, who loves hockey and I still think his dad might love it more. Every day, that guy, even when he shouldn't be skating, he's out on the ice skating. So just his love for the game is really contagious. And just the little ins and outs of the game and the way he thinks the game, the way he sees the game. It's fun to just pick his brain. Even with how the game's evolved from the time he came into the league until now. It's cool to see and hear all the stories he's had over the years and all the players he's been able to play with and learn from is just special. We go to dinner almost every night together on the road and so I've gotten to know his appetite and it's fun.