Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin wins Lady Byng Trophy; took one penalty all season

The Carolina Hurricanes Jaccob Slavin was named the winner of the Lady Byng Trophy. He is only the fourth defenseman to win the award after only taking one minor penalty in 52 games this season.

The Lady Byng is presented annually to the player who combines sportsmanship and fair play in conjunction with a high skill level.

Jaccob Slavin wins Lady Byng

Jaccob Slavin beat out Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews and Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon for the honors. Slavin and Spurgeon were first-time Lady Byng finalists while Matthews finished second in last year’s voting.

The 27 year-old defender took just one penalty – a two-minute minor – in 52 games this season while averaging 22:59 of ice time per game. The six-year veteran has amassed just 60 penalty minutes in his 429-game NHL career.

“Just the way I like to go about the game, obviously, is to try to stay out of the box,” Slavin said. “I definitely don’t like taking penalties. I’m not that physical a guy. I like to use my stick a lot, and so in doing in that I have to make sure my position on the ice is solid and making sure I’m setting myself up for success using skating abilities, and just trying to make sure my angles are good. … It’s the combination of skating and stickwork and not playing too physical.”

NHL.com