The Carolina Hurricanes have activated defenseman Jaccob Slavin from injured reserve, according to an announcement by General Manager Eric Tulsky. Defenseman Joel Nystrom has been assigned to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.
Slavin, age 31, played in the first two games of the 2025-26 season before missing 29 games due to a lower-body injury. He has recorded 299 points in 747 career NHL games with Carolina and holds franchise records among defensemen for points, assists, and shorthanded points. Slavin is also tied for the lead in both shorthanded goals and overtime goals among Hurricanes defensemen. As alternate captain, he has added 40 points in 86 playoff contests and holds franchise postseason records for games played, goals, assists, and points among defensemen.
A two-time recipient of the NHL’s Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (2020-21, 2023-24), Slavin leads all NHL blueliners since the start of the 2015-16 season in takeaways and is tied for most shorthanded points. His career takeaways rank second overall in the league during that period. Slavin was selected by Carolina in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
Nystrom, age 23, made his NHL debut on October 23 at Colorado and registered five assists with a plus-3 rating over 24 games this season for Carolina. He earned his first NHL point with an assist on November 8 against Buffalo and appeared in three AHL games this season with Chicago. Nystrom previously played five seasons with Färjestad BK in Sweden’s top league before being drafted by Carolina in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL Draft.
The Hurricanes play their home games at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina—a venue that accommodates up to 20,000 people and hosts more than 150 events each year (source). The team contributes over $200 million annually to the local economy through its events and community engagement (source). Since relocating from Hartford to Raleigh in 1997 (source), they have provided professional ice hockey entertainment (source) and achieved notable milestones such as winning their first Stanley Cup in 2006 (source).
“JACCOB SLAVIN JUST SAVED A SURE GOAL
What else can you say about this guy?! He’s so, so underrated.” — NHL (@NHL)
