Jarvis growing into role as Hurricanes’ top-line centre

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This article was published 04/12/2023 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seth Jarvis fondly recalls the first time he ever set foot on the ice at Canada Life Centre.

“I was maybe five or six, and the Moose did the Timbits skate at intermission. And I skated in it,” the Winnipeg product said Monday. “I remember thinking this was the craziest, biggest rink ever. It was cool being able to skate here that young.”

Just look at him now. Jarvis, 21, was back at the downtown rink as his Carolina Hurricanes faced his hometown Winnipeg Jets, with a few dozen family and friends cheering him on. Although it’s the third time he’s returned to town as an NHL player, the feeling will never get old.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Jarvis. “I get to see my buddies when I come back. I think they make it pretty special coming to the game. Sometimes it feels like they’re living through me a little bit. Especially situations like this.”

Jarvis is off to a strong start, with 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in his first 23 games of the season. That has him on track to smash his previous career offensive bests.

“Being in my third year, there’s a level of comfort,” said Jarvis. “Just being able to come to the rink every day and there’s a sense of confidence around me. I think I’m playing well.”

His coach would agree. Rod Brind’Amour is using him in more situations, including taking faceoffs and killing penalties, and is watching the 13th-overall pick from the 2020 draft grow up right before his very eyes.

“I think it’s an evolution of a player who came into the league as a high-skilled player, but you have to learn the other parts of the game. I think he’s done that really well. That affords him to get out there more,” said Brind’Amour.

“The game’s 90 per cent playing away from the puck. You know when he gets it he can do some good things, but you have to be able to understand the rest of it. I think he’s done a great job of that. And then getting mature. To me, it’s getting stronger. Young kids grow up in this league. You forget, they come in as kids and you start getting to be a man, all of a sudden you’re getting a little stronger, and obviously his confidence has grown. He’s grown in all areas.”

It helps to be surrounded by so many savvy veterans, starting with a bench boss who had 1,484 NHL games on his resume.

“Right now, me and him are working on my faceoffs. That’s something he was really good at,” Jarvis said of Brind’Amour. “So it’s great to learn from someone like that. Whether it’s hockey or life, he’s been really helpful to me.”

Then you have players like Jordan Staal and Brent Burns to lead by example.

“A lot of old guys, yeah,” Jarvis joked. “A lot of guys that have been around for a while and like to give me a lot of grief. But it’s a lot of fun.”

Jarvis, who lined up Monday night on the top line with Sebastian Aho and Michael Bunting, needs two more points to reach 100 for his career, which he hoped his teammates weren’t aware of prior to facing the Jets.

“Don’t tell anybody that,” he said. “If they find out I’m going to have to put a lot of money on the board, so I’m trying to keep that under wraps.”

Jarvis was also looking forward to facing off against Cole Perfetti, who was drafted three spots ahead of him by Winnipeg.

“We played in a lot of international tournaments together,” said Jarvis. “He’s been flying. When we were growing up he was always the guy to look out for. He was kind of the measuring stick for our age group. He’s someone who’s been good all along, so it’s not surprising.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg