From the time Seth Jarvis took the ice on Oct. 31, Carolina Hurricanes fans took notice of the young Canadian. When he notched his first goal in his second game, people knew this kid had something special. When he had two goals disallowed in a 24-hour period, he won the hearts of fans who wanted nothing more than to see the 19-year-old get his goal. The long-awaited allowed goal finally came against the Vegas Golden Knights, and Caniacs all over were elated for him.
Since Las Vegas, he has notched a goal in both Anaheim and Los Angeles, putting him on a three-game goal streak and we hope to be the beginning of things to come. While he officially has four goals on the season, most fans with correct that as *six. No matter who he is paired with, he has been producing. When paired with Derek Stepan and Stephen Lorentz, that created a lot of chances to score, and when he is paired with Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho, he really shines.
“It’s a lot of fun (to play with him),” Sebastian Aho said after the Golden Knights game. “He’s a good kid. He can really skate and is a smart player. It’s fun to play with him, and I just try to find him and, obviously, he can score,” (from ‘Hurricanes vibe check: Streaking on the west coast, Seth Jarvis is an NHL Player,’ The Athletic, 11/20/21)
Look at Where He Came From
As a Manitoban, geography put him in the Western Hockey League, and the Portland Winterhawks were grateful for that fact, picking him in the first round, eleventh overall, in the 2017 WHL Entry Draft.
In his first season, he played in 11 games, starting out with two assists. The next season, he played in 61 games where he had 16 goals and23 assists. His shining season came where it mattered, his draft year. In his third season with the Winterhawks, he had 42 goals and 56 assists in 58 games. He displayed the type of player and person he was by winning the Brad Hornung Trophy, which is awarded annually to the WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player.
With the type of players the Canes have in their locker room, including the 2021 Lady Byng Trophy winner for Most Sportsmanlike Player in the NHL, Jaccob Slavin, it is no surprise that they set their sights on him.
Jarvis had the option to go to college or play in Portland, and he chose Portland. He set his sights on being in the NHL and chose the WHL route knowing that it would put him on the road to the NHL. His coach in Portland, Mike Johnston, coached the Pittsburgh Penguins for one season before returning to Portland.
The Winterhawks have produced a large number of NHL first-round picks, like Ryan Johansen, Braydon Coburn, and Seth Jones, as well as Hall of Famers Marian Hossa, Mark Messier, and Cam Neely. Not only that, but Hurricanes great Glen Wesley was a Winterhawk as well, and ironically, the man whose injury put Jarvis into the lineup, Nino Niederreiter, came from the Hawks.
In the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, the Hurricanes selected Seth Jarvis from the Winterhawks with their 13th pick. On Dec. 28, he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the team and earned his first start on Oct. 31, 2021, after Neiderreiter went out with an injury.
Jarvis is still a teenager, and under NHL rules, a team can play teenage prospects in up to nine NHL games without any penalty to their contracts or the years of service requirement that impacts free agency. The moment the player enters into their 10th game, it activates their contract and puts them one year closer to free agency.
Look at Him Now
Tonight, Jarvis will make his 10th start in the NHL, which officially means that the first year of his NHL contract will expire at season’s end. Right now, all signs are pointing to him remaining with the big boys for the remainder of the season. He is showing that he is fully capable of competing at a high level.
Luckily for Jarvis, his current linemates, Aho and Svechnikov, both started their rookie seasons full time with the Hurricanes and can help guide him in this new path of his life. It was a path taken by team captain Jordan Staal and a new member of the team, Stepan.
Jarvis’ goal streak is right up there with Hurricanes’ great Ron Francis and teammate Svechnikov. If this is his record this fast into the start of the season, we are sure to see a lot in the years to come. It’s clear to see that he’s found his place with his teammates and is comfortable there. It shows how well he is playing and how much his teammates already like him.
As Canes Colour Commentator Tripp Tracy commented after his goal against John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks, the goal and the way he worked with his teammates were a display of Jarvellousness.
Many people, myself included, worried about how the season was going to play out after losing strong goalies and defenseman Dougie Hamilton. We wondered how, after how strong the Hurricanes were last season, they could make a change like that. They are certainly showing us how. Frederik Andersen has been a wall and the new defensemen in Ethan Bear, Ian Cole, and Tony DeAngelo have all shown their strengths.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, hockey is showing why it has a home in the south. I’ve been around many fanbases in my day, but the Caniacs are unlike any other. They love the team as much as the team loves having diehard fans who make the road trips with them.