The news has been mostly slow over the last few weeks in the hockey world. However, as we draw closer to the 2025-26 season, promotional schedules are being released, and now Olympic Orientation Camp invitations are being sent out. As part of it, the Team USA Olympic invite list has been released, and there is one name in particular that stands out, especially for Carolina Hurricanes fans. There was no doubt that defenseman Jaccob Slavin would be on the 44-player invite camp list. What does it mean for Slavin, and why does it matter to be part of the plans for Team USA next February in Italy?
Let’s Go to Hockey Camp
On Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 19), USA Hockey revealed its 44-player Men’s Olympic Orientation Camp invite list. Out of the 44 players, 16 of them were defensemen, ranging from Massachusetts to Colorado to Montana. One of the names that stood out right away for Hurricanes fans was Erie, Colorado’s Slavin. After showing out in the 4 Nations Face-off for Team USA, it only made sense that the 29-year-old would be part of the orientation camp roster. He joins fellow Hurricanes players Seth Jarvis, Frederik Andersen, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Sebastian Aho to be part of their nations’ Olympic roster in some capacity.
Related: Jaccob Slavin Is Already the Hurricanes’ Best Defenseman of All-Time
Slavin did not tally a point during the 4 Nations Face-off; however, he was a plus-3 during the four games Team USA played in the tournament. Alongside partner Brock Faber, the two were the biggest shutdown pair for Team USA during the 4 Nations. It got to the point where Slavin was getting his overdue flowers from around the hockey world. Hurricanes fans know how amazing he is on a nightly basis. After only having eight penalty minutes in 95 games between the regular season and the playoffs, he is considered one of the best defensive defensemen in the NHL. It just took the 4 Nations for everyone else to catch up.
Under head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s system, Slavin is a number one defenseman who always has the most critical assignments against other teams’ best players. Even on the penalty kill, he is on PK1 for penalty kill coach Tim Gleason, who relies on him to use his elite defensive IQ to be a brick wall. His IQ is on another level, where he lets his game do the talking for him. On a nightly basis, he uses his stick at the right time to break up passes or…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Hockey Writers…