Hurricanes winger Seth Jarvis is one of the more prominent restricted free agents with camps just a few weeks away from opening up. However, it appears that might not be the case for much longer as The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported earlier this week in an NHL Tonight appearance (video link) that the two sides are getting close to a max-term eight-year deal.
The 22-year-old was the 13th overall pick by Carolina in 2020 and after spending his post-draft campaign in the WHL, he has been a fixture in their lineup since. Jarvis put up 40 and 39 points over his first two seasons, decent numbers for a youngster in his first taste of the pros but he managed to find another gear in 2023-24.
Last season, Jarvis set career bests with 33 goals and 34 assists in 81 games while logging 18:45 per night. His 67 points were good for second on the Hurricanes in scoring behind only Sebastian Aho. He was also one of their top scorers in the playoffs, recording five goals and four helpers in 11 contests, putting him third in team scoring behind Aho and Andrei Svechnikov.
It was suggested earlier this month that the Hurricanes might view Svechnikov’s $7.75MM AAV as the ceiling for Jarvis; the 2018 second-overall pick received that on a max-term agreement coming off his entry-level deal. Pagnotta suggests that the price tag for Jarvis could creep past the $7.5MM mark so while it might come in below Svechnikov’s, it could be pretty close to it.
Carolina has around $6.44MM in cap room, per PuckPedia. However, with today’s news that winger Jesper Fast will likely miss the entire season after undergoing neck surgery, he will be eligible to be placed on LTIR. Depending on their exact situation at the time of his placement, the Hurricanes could go over the cap by up to Fast’s $2.4MM. That amount added to their base cap space would be enough to get Jarvis under contract while leaving a bit of flexibility to afford a recall or two when injuries strike.