Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis out 4-6 months after shoulder surgery

Day 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft was Friday in Buffalo, New York.
Day 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft was Friday in Buffalo, New York. Getty Images

Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis has undergone shoulder surgery and will need four to six months of recovery time, general manager Eric Tulsky said Friday.

The news on Jarvis came from Tulsky after the first round of the NHL Draft was completed. The Canes held the No. 31 pick but traded it to the Nashville Predators for the No. 42 and No. 57 picks in the second round.

Tulsky, in a media briefing after the first round, confirmed the Jarvis surgery and said forward Eric Robinson had a knee procedure that will keep him out four to six weeks. Tulsky said no other medical procedures are planned in the offseason.

Jarvis, 24, had been slowed by shoulder issues the past two seasons and often used a protective shoulder brace. The injury hampered him during the Canes’ run to the Stanley Cup, their first in 20 years.

Jarvis, who had a team-high 32 goals in the regular season, finished with four goals and 11 points in the 19 playoff games. He scored the overtime winner in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The length of the recovery period from the surgery should sideline Jarvis the first few months of the 2026-27 season.

It was the third straight year the Hurricanes elected to trade the pick and move down in the draft order. In 2025, they moved the pick for two second-round picks and a fifth-rounder. In 2024, they used it to obtain two second-round draft picks.

The Canes last made a first-round selection in 2023, when they took forward Bradly Nadeau.

Penn State forward Gavin McKenna, as expected, was the No. 1 overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who won the May 5 draft lottery. McKenna, 18, starred for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Hockey League before spending the 2025-26 season in collegiate hockey with the Nittany Lions.

A lot of the attention Friday was grabbed by the New York Rangers, who made a major move in trading for Vegas forward Pavel Dorofeyev. A 37-goal scorer this past season for the Golden Knights, Dorofeyev agreed to a seven-year contract extension with New York that will pay an average of $11 million a year.

Later, the St. Louis Blues worked a trade with Anaheim to bring Mason McTavish to the Blues, sending the 15th and 29th overall picks to the Ducks.

With the draft decentralized again this year, some teams were represented in Buffalo by a celebrity proxy — Justin Bieber for the Maple Leafs — to announce the draft selection.

The Canes’ contingent again gathered at Lenovo headquarters in Morrisville. In the war room were Tulsky and Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, along with other team executives and scouts.

Brind’Amour likely was happy to see forward Wyatt Cullen taken 10th overall by the Nashville Predators. Cullen’s father, Matt, was a member of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup champs, captained by Brind’Amour.

Wyatt Cullen was born in September 2008 when Matt was about to begin his fourth season with the Hurricanes. In an interesting twist, Matt Cullen also later played for the Predators.

Another father/son combination that was a feelgood storyline Friday: Forward Caleb Malhotra was the No. 3 pick by the Vancouver Canucks, now coached by his father, Manny.

But all in all, it was a mild opening to the draft. The remaining rounds will be Saturday and the Canes now will have five picks.

This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 11:12 PM.

Chip Alexander
The News & Observer
In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.
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