Canes’ Seth Jarvis looks like he’ll stick in the NHL. What does his junior coach say?
Mike Johnston has coached Seth Jarvis for 159 games. He also realizes he probably has coached him for the last time.
Johnston is the head coach, general manager and senior vice president of the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. He has had Jarvis for parts of four seasons in junior hockey, and has been impressed by the forward’s skill, speed and his drive to succeed since first seeing him at age 14.
“I saw Seth in a summer tournament for the first time and he was playing with an all-star team from Manitoba,” Johnson said in a News & Observer interview Friday. “His team was down three or four goals late in the game and he kind of drove the pace of the game, with the energy and the compete, to get them back in the game.
“That was the first time and I thought, ‘Wow, this guy.’ And he was really small then. He played with energy and drive and he wanted to make a difference in the game, and that trait continued. He was a difference-maker and he wanted to be a difference-maker.”
Johnston said he was watching Jarvis again Thursday night — playing for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Anaheim Ducks — being a difference-maker. With the score tied 1-1 in the third, Jarvis scored the go-ahead goal after some relentless work in front of the net from linemates Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov. The Canes won 2-1, ending the Ducks’ eight-game win streak.
Decision time for the Canes
It was Jarvis’ eighth NHL game. The 19-year-old rookie, the Canes’ first-round draft pick in 2020, will play his ninth Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. If he plays a 10th, Monday at San Jose, the first year of his entry-level contract with the Hurricanes will be activated.
The Canes (13-2-0) can either keep Jarvis up for the 2021-22 season or send him back to Portland for the season. Those are the two options.
Johnston, a former head coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, said he has not been officially informed by the Hurricanes about their decision. But he expects Jarvis to stay with the Canes.
“I think so, yeah,” he said. “Unfortunately I hate to say that, but I think so. You never know as the year goes along because Carolina has a good team. They’re going to be a team that’s going to have a long run in the playoffs.
“It’s always a debate. If he’s getting quality playing time and he’s keeping his confidence, he should be in the NHL. If he’s not, he should be back in junior to try and carry a team to a championship but also try and keep his game at a high level.”
Jarvis’ development a priority
Johnston said he stays in contact with Canes assistant general manager Darren Yorke and receives updates on Jarvis’ status.
“For our program, when we lose a player like Seth it’s a big loss at the junior level,” Johnston said. “But when I look at it, that’s the purpose of our league. We’re a development league. We’re supposed to put players in the NHL and if we do that, here in Portland we’ll get better players who want to come to Portland.
“That’s probably why Seth came to Portland. We put players in the NHL. Seth had options to go to college and he chose Portland. So on one side, you’re thrilled and happy for Seth and on the other you’re disappointed you can’t have him as part of your program. But in the long run it’s going to better for our program.”
Jarvis now has three goals and an assist in eight games with the Canes and has scored the game-winner in each of the past two road games, against the Vegas Golden Knights and the Ducks. Twice this season he has had goals taken away, the first after Jarvis was ruled to have been offside entering the zone.
Jarvis was awarded his first NHL penalty shot Thursday but failed to convert against goalie John Gibson. That steamed him a little, but he then scored the winner, banking a shot from behind the goal line off Gibson.
“That says a lot about him,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after the game. “He was a little upset, you could tell, that he didn’t score on the penalty shot. Then maybe his next shift he (scores). He’s been good for us, obviously. He’s definitely proven his worth.”
Handling the grind
One question about Jarvis is whether he can handle the grind of an 82-game NHL season. He’s 5-11 and 175 pounds and he spends a lot of time around the net, where big bodies often roam and hit.
“With us, the bigger the defensemen who came after him, his game just took off,” Johnston said. “He went right back at them and competed at a higher level.”
Johnston also believes Jarvis is better suited as an NHL winger, saying, “On the wing I think he gets more room, more space, more time to slash into open areas.”
There is the matter of maintaining his confidence during the inevitable rough patches. Johnston said he coached the Canes’ Nino Niederreiter when the forward was with the Winterhawks, saying, “The hardest thing for him was when he wasn’t scoring he struggled a little bit mentally to stay with it and keep his confidence.
“Every player goes through those phases where you’re not contributing like you think you can. For me, it’s once you get to the NHL how do you handle that mentally? Can you handle the highs and lows? Junior hockey simulates the NHL a little bit but there’s nothing like 82 games in the NHL.”
That’s what Seth Jarvis is shooting for: being with the Canes for the rest of the 82-game regular season in 2021-22.
“There will be highs and lows for Seth,” Johnston said. “I think Seth is a pretty grounded guy, so he should be able to work his way through it. He’s obviously on a high right now.”
Carolina Hurricanes at Los Angeles Kings
When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles.
TV/Radio: Bally Sports South, WCMC- 99.9 FM
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 1:59 PM.
