A Seth Jarvis Contract Extension on the Horizon with Carolina Hurricanes?

As we enter the most desolate part of the summer hockey desert, the Carolina Hurricanes are still working to provide fans the blessed waters of contract extensions to try and get us through the emptiness. Local radio and Canes Corner podcast host Adam Gold suggests real momentum is being made towards an 8-year extension between the Carolina Hurricanes and young star Seth Jarvis. 

According to Gold, the Canes and Seth Jarvis are both seeking a full 8 year commitment, and while money is the current sticking point, both sides are north of $8 million per year on the contract. Gold suggests that the Canes and Jarvis are likely to agree shortly and speculates that it could end up in the $8.5-8.75 per year range.

While this would be a steep price for a hockey player, there are good reasons to do so for the 22 year old Jarvis, who broke out with 33 goals and 67 points last season. First is the simple fact that this would lock him up as a Hurricane through his age 30 season.  It is not outside the realm of possibility that he could get better throughout this entire contract.   Secondly, even at 22, Jarvis is a proven clutch playoff performer.  He led the team with 5 playoff goals scored and was third in points with 9 in 11 games. Yet these are not the biggest reasons Jarvis would be worth every penny.

A look at Seth Jarvis’ advanced stats suggests that Rod Brind’Amour already trusts his young star implicitly.  We know that solid two-way play is the quickest way into Coach Brind’Amour’s heart and Jarvis is already one of the Hurricanes’ best.   It should shock no one that during the playoffs, when the puck was in the Hurricanes zone the forward that Rod Brind’Amour trusted the most was Jordan Staal.  Staal had a defensive zone start % (dZS%) of 67.2%. The second player at 60.5% was Jarvis. 

Further, only two forwards averaged over 20 minutes of ice time during the playoffs.  One was Sebastian Aho. The other was Jarvis. The fact that Jarvis is trusted so highly in the most important situations speaks volumes.

Hurricanes fans are already aware of and in love with Seth Jarvis the player and Seth Jarvis the person, so it should be a day for celebration across the fanbase when he puts his pen to the paper.  He may end up being a little bit pricier than some Canes fans were hoping this summer, but with a rising cap and a ridiculously bright future ahead of him, only ill health could keep Seth Jarvis from being worth every penny and then some.  This day of celebration could happen sooner rather than later.

Other Notes

Adam Gold had a couple of other interesting tidbits from his podcast which is definitely worth listening to. First is that there has been no real momentum in talks with star forward Martin Necas. He believes this is still heading towards a bridge deal situation.   Secondly and more sadly, it seems like the injury to Jesper Fast is still in a serious situation, and not only might he miss camp, he might miss significant time.  With only a year left in his contract, it would be a shame if Jesper Fast’s Hurricane career ended on the injured list.