While teams around the NHL have made decisions on most of the junior-aged players as to whether or not to send them back to their previous team – including one earlier today – another one is soon pending in Carolina’s Seth Jarvis.
Jarvis was a healthy scratch early on in the year which has bought the Hurricanes some extra time to evaluate his development. However, he has played in nine games including today’s action which means the decision on whether or not to activate the first year of his entry-level contract will soon be upon them as that will occur in his tenth contest.
Jarvis has played better as of late, scoring in three straight games including today and is up to four goals and an assist on the season while averaging nearly 14 minutes per night. That’s certainly enough playing time to justify keeping him around although GM Don Waddell will need to weigh that against the benefits of having Jarvis on the books for an extra year on his entry-level deal if his contract was to slide and end in 2024-25 with a slightly lower AAV on the books as well. Mike Johnston, the coach of WHL Portland which is where Jarvis would go if he’s returned to junior, indicated to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer that he hasn’t heard which way the Hurricanes are leaning but that he doesn’t expect the youngster to return.
The other threshold that has to be brought up in situations like these is the 40-game one. If a junior-aged player is on the active roster for 40 games, he accrues a season of service time, giving him a year towards UFA eligibility. Some teams are okay with a player burning a cheap entry-level season but not losing a year of club control in the process. Edmonton notably did that with Leon Draisaitl back in 2014-15.
So far this season, there has basically been a split on slide decisions. William Eklund (San Jose), Hendrix Lapierre (Washington), Mason McTavish (Anaheim), and Jake Neighbours (St. Louis) were all returned while Dawson Mercer (New Jersey), Lucas Raymond (Detroit), and Cole Sillinger (Columbus) have all played past the nine-game mark already. Carolina will soon need to decide which group their promising winger will be joining in the near future.