Slavin is arguably the game's best pure in-zone defender, even after losing his defense partner Dougie Hamilton in the off-season. • Playing with a rotating group of partners, Slavin has maintained his top-notch defense. He has been instrumental in Carolina sitting on top of the NHL standings with 21 wins in 29 games. Slavin has played a huge amount in recent games, with his time on ice peaking at 32:28 in an overtime win vs. Calgary. • EP Rinkside Lead Analyst Dimitri Filipovic recently wrote this about Slavin's play. • "The last time we saw Carolina play, Slavin's individual performance was a true bright spot. He morphed into a total beast, chewing up ridiculous amounts of ice time with his team playing shorthanded. With a couple of blueline regulars waiting back home for the Hurricanes to return, he wound up having to play 29:30, 20:39, 29:51, 32:28, 29:49, and 27:04 in their six games to start the month of December. • Anyone can technically play a lot of minutes, but very few are a...