Following a disappointing game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Carolina Hurricanes hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins for their first meeting of the season on Saturday, Nov. 18. Pittsburgh entered the game after a 5-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Carolina, on the other hand, was looking to avenge a 3-1 loss to the aforementioned Flyers. It was a crucial early-season game for Metropolitan Division opponents looking to right the ship. In the end, the Hurricanes defeated the Penguins 4-2 to secure the two points.
Some players for the Hurricanes contributed in a huge way to a complete team game win. Brent Burns, Jaccob Slavin, Teuvo Teravainen, and Sebastian Aho all had multi-point nights along with netminder Antti Raanta’s 26 saves. However, the one who really stood out amongst the rest was the youngest Hurricanes player on the team.
Seth Jarvis Leads Way for Hurricanes
Just for only being 21 years old, Seth Jarvis is having himself a start to the 2023-24 season. The Winnipeg native through 17 games this season has seven goals and 13 points. It puts him in joint second place on the Hurricanes for points with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and only two behind the team leader Aho. Currently, Jarvis is on pace to beat his goal total for the 2022-23 season which was 14. Furthermore, there is a chance he might even break his career-high in goals which is 17 that he set back during his rookie season in 2021-22. There is even a discussion of setting a career-high in points as well which is right now 40. That too was set back during the 2021-22 season.
After the night he had versus the Penguins on Nov. 18, there is a sense that Jarvis is in for a breakout season. While guys like Aho, Slavin, Burns, and even Teravainen are known for multi-point nights, Jarvis can also be a guy who has games like those as well. His skill set sets him to have a game where he is sneaky good and can get multi-point nights without people realizing. He is a 200-foot player who is dynamic on both sides of the puck and can be relied on when needed the most.
While he does not get a ton of time on the penalty kill, his skill on the power-play is perfect for the style that the Hurricanes play. He ended the night with two goals and an assist for a three-point night. His second goal was his fifth power-play goal of the season.
Jarvis has five goals and six points on the power play after 17 games this season. For the Hurricanes, he has scored nearly 90% of his goals with the man advantage. Carolina is looking for that clutch gene in their young star player. This season’s six points have already matched his career high from the 2021-22 season. Furthermore, his five power-play goals are already a career high and will only increase from here.
Jarvis this season is out to prove that he is on the rise and can be a guy the Hurricanes can lean on. He has certainly proven that already with a few multi-point games and a plethora of special teams goals as well. He has the potential to get over 50 points, maybe even 60, which is what fans and the team are hoping for in their breakout star.
What Does a Jarvis Contract Extension Look Like?
The main thing that Hurricanes fans want to see is the news of a contract extension for the youngster who is in the final year of his entry-level contract (ELC). He is set to become a restricted free agent (RFA) at the end of the season. His current cap hit is only 1.10 percent against the Hurricanes’ cap with him making $894,167. While he is 21 years old, there is a case to be made to give him a long-term contract like Kotkaniemi and Andrei Svechnikov who both got eight-year deals.
However, if the Hurricanes want to bridge his next contract to a three or four-year deal, that could work as well. That way, once that contract is done he will be 24 or 25 and around the age range where Aho got his new eight-year extension back this past off-season. Either way, it is a no-brainer that the Hurricanes need to give Jarvis an extension, especially after the career he’s already had so far. He is in the third year of his NHL career and as mentioned before, he’s only 21. There is no wrong way of going about giving him an extension but he does deserve one.
If one had to guess, a solid deal that both Jarvis and the Hurricanes could be happy with is a four-year, $3 million average annual value contract. This could work because it would give the Hurricanes room to extend other players like Slavin as well while locking up the future cornerstone piece in Jarvis until he is 25 before getting the huge seven or eight-year deal like Aho, Kotkaniemi, and Svechnikov.
Whatever the deal is, Jarvis will be a key player for the Hurricanes alongside players like Aho, Svechnikov, Kotkaniemi, Pytor Kochetkov, and others. He’s on a mission to prove he’s a star and is set to have a breakout season. The only question is how many points he will have at the end of the season. Jarvy, as players and fans refer to him, will be a fun one to watch.
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