Slavin follows Olympic gold medal with Stanley Cup win for Hurricanes

LAS VEGAS -- The Jaccob Slavin tour de force on display across the past 16 months ended in spectacular fashion with the Stanley Cup above his head.

The Carolina Hurricanes defenseman played a huge role as his team fashioned a 3-0 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday, giving the Hurricanes a 4-2 win in the best-of-7 series and their first championship in 20 years.

“It’s hard, it’s hard. But it’s awesome,” Slavin said in the aftermath, standing on the ice and surrounded by his family.

Slavin also made history along the way, becoming the second American player to win an Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup in the same season.

To steal a Las Vegas term, the 32-year-old has been on a pretty good heater dating to the 4 Nations Face-Off in February of 2025.

His United States team finished second to Canada in that tournament with a 3-2 overtime loss in the championship game. Slavin, considered one of the best defensemen to never have won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top player at the position, finally showed the rest of the hockey world what Carolina fans already knew.

Then, this past February, the Americans got revenge on an even bigger stage, winning gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan by defeating Team Canada 2-1 in overtime.

Slavin had one point in six games in the Olympics but was consistently among the best players for Team USA, matched up against the top line from each of the opposing countries.

Less than four months removed from what he has termed a whirlwind experience in Italy, Slavin is a champion again.

“Grateful for the win, grateful to be able to glorify God on the biggest stage in hockey,” Slavin said. “Got to do it at the Olympics and now at the Stanley Cup. God is so kind. He gets all the glory. I’m just thankful and grateful.”

And dominant -- like his team, which went 16-3 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In those 19 games, Slavin played an average of 23:31, had five assists and was plus-5.

Going against Vegas forward Jack Eichel and defenseman Noah Hanifin, his teammates at the Olympics, he had three assists in the Cup Final, including feeding Taylor Hall with a stretch pass for the winning goal in the first period Sunday. Slavin was plus-4 and averaged 24:11 of ice time in the series.

“I mean, he's been my Norris (Trophy) candidate for a long time,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said, “and, you know, he does so many little things so well, and you don't really appreciate (him) unless you literally watch the game. You have to (watch) every shift, every play, and he does so many things that we get to see a lot and appreciate about him.”

Staal said Game 6 was a master class in who Slavin is and why he is so important to the Hurricanes.

“He was remarkable tonight,” Staal said. “My goodness, his stick -- he stopped like four or five Grade-A chances. It was nonstop, every shift really. And he was a massive reason why, you know, it stayed at zero.”

Slavin joined defenseman Ken Morrow as the only U.S. players to achieve the Olympic/Stanley Cup double in the same season. Morrow was a member of the “Miracle on Ice” team at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York -- the last time the Americans had won Olympic gold -- and then just a few months later won the first of four straight Stanley Cup titles with the New York Islanders.

Selected by the Islanders in the fourth round (No. 68) of the 1976 NHL Draft, Morrow was still playing at Bowling Green University when he made the Olympic team, which consisted of amateurs at the time.

The NHL didn’t send its players to the Olympics until 1998.

Though Slavin said he is honored to join Morrow in one of the most elite clubs in hockey, he said the Stanley Cup is the biggest prize.

“I have a lot of honor in representing my country, and winning the gold is something that is so special,” Slavin said. “But you go back to the relationships you have with the guys in the locker room and it is a completely different feeling winning with this group.

“It’s amazing to do this with the people you love.”