As we’re less than 60 days away from the home and season opener for the Carolina Hurricanes, 58 to be exact, it’s time to see what milestones are close to being accomplished this 2025-26 season. Starting it off, let’s take a look at Jaccob Slavin as the American defenseman enters his 11th NHL season, all with the Hurricanes. What milestones could be eclipsed in 2025-26?
Milestones Ahead for Slavin
Entering the 2025-26 season, Slavin currently sits with 55 goals, 244 assists, and 299 points. He will enter his 11th NHL season with the Hurricanes, dating back to 2015-16. Also, he is one game-winning goal away from 10 in his career, just a small caveat to a career that he has built with the only franchise he’s ever played for. He will accomplish these milestones this upcoming season, as he is only five goals away from 60, six assists away from 250, and one point away from 300 in his career. It’s the body of work overall that gives an idea of what he has accomplished in his career for the Hurricanes, especially when he goes down as the greatest defenseman in franchise history. Fun fact: Slavin is only one of three players in franchise history to have a plus/minus of 100 or more. He has a plus-167, while Sebastian Aho (121) and Teuvo Teräväinen (105) are the other two. Furthermore, Slavin is only 33 away from being the first plus-200 player.
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When taking a deeper dive into his stats, Slavin has 1,241 blocks in 745 games played. He is only nine away from 1,250, which is an incredible feat in and of itself to block as many shots as he has. On top of that, he is 17 hits away from 450, while only having 94 penalty minutes in his career. He is a two-time Lady Byng winner for a reason. Being able to do all he has for the Hurricanes, while being on the ice due to his clean style of play, shows how valuable he is to the team. The thing is, he will have another eight seasons to cement his legacy for the Hurricanes as his new eight-year, $51.17 million deal starts this fall. Slavin will be 39 when this deal is completed after the 2032-33 season, which is worth it for how great a defensive defenceman he has become in the NHL.
Slavin had six goals and 27 points in 80 games for the 2024-25 season. There is a chance he could tally more than 30 points again in 2025-26; however, there is no reason why he couldn’t eclipse the 40-point mark for the first time since 2021-22 (42 points in 79 games). It’ll be interesting to see how this upcoming season goes for Slavin, but with a ton of milestones on the horizon, it will be one to watch for the Denver, CO native.
Related: Jaccob Slavin Is Already the Hurricanes’ Best Defenseman of All-Time
One other significant milestone, which is upcoming, even if it’s not during the 2025-26 season, is worth noting. Slavin has currently played 745 games for the Hurricanes and is only 255 away from 1,000 for his career. That said, it will take him another three seasons to accomplish this feat. It’ll come during the 2027-28 season, and when it happens, he will be the second player in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history to reach that milestone. The first was Ron Francis with 1,186. However, that spanned over the Whalers and the Hurricanes. Regarding Slavin, his 1,000th game will be the first in Hurricanes history to reach that milestone. He will play his entire career with the Hurricanes. To reach 1,000 games, all with the same franchise, is another level of special.
Greatest Hurricanes Defenseman of All-Time
The 2025-26 season will be an important one for Slavin as he will hit milestones in goals, assists, and points. Furthermore, blocked shots and hits will see some nice even numbers when it’s all said and done. Give it a few seasons, and Slavin will accomplish the massive milestone as the first Hurricanes player to play in 1,000 games, with all of them in Carolina. All of these accomplishments will just cement the legacy he will leave behind when he calls it a career. That said, he will go down as the greatest Hurricanes defenseman of all-time, even though he is already now. However, all of these milestones will confirm it without a doubt. The 2025-26 season will only be the start of the next level legacy run for Slavin, and it will be one to watch.
