Rocking Raleigh as a Hurricane

RALEIGH — Josh Stein may be the governor of North Carolina, while Janet Cowell is the current mayor of Raleigh. But make no mistake: Seth Jarvis could probably run this place if he wanted to.

The Winnipeg product is as popular as they come around these parts, winning fans everywhere with his terrific play on the ice and his personality and charm off of it. All of that was on display earlier this week when the Carolina Hurricanes hosted the New York Rangers in what was touted as a “Showcase Game” for Jarvis.

FanDuel Sports Network South made him the focal point of their broadcast, with an isolated box capturing his every move — from pre-game arrival to the final buzzer and beyond. He was mic’d up and, fittingly, scored his team-leading 12th goal of the year, giving it an extra-long fist pump while sliding on his knees and a huge “wooooooo” for all those tuning in.

Jarvis is no stranger to the spotlight, as he’s one of the featured players this year in Amazon Prime’s FACEOFF: Inside the NHL series which gives viewers an up-close, behind-the-scenes look at life in the NHL.

Jarvis has candidly talked about mental health struggles he’s faced and how his older brother, Kayden, has served as his personal skills coach. One of the funnier moments is when his mom, Tracey, took a camera crew on a tour of his childhood bedroom which included a vision board he created at the age of 10. A prominent goal: Make the NHL. (There was also a Sidney Crosby poster on his door).

Jarvis has come a long way from the talented teen who opened plenty of eyes while starring at the Rink Hockey Academy between 2016-18. A standout career with the Portland Winterhawks led to his 13th-overall selection by Carolina in 2020 — his hometown Winnipeg Jets took Cole Perfetti three picks earlier — and he’s now one of the NHL’s rising stars.

The 23-year-old was selected to represent Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off last February — Crosby was one of his teammates — and there’s a high chance he’ll be wearing the Maple Leaf at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy.

Maybe his four best childhood Winnipeg buddies, who made the trip to Boston to see the gold medal game against the United States and became instant media sensations, might have Milan in their travel plans, too?

With Jarvis facing the Jets on Friday afternoon — we saw a ton of his jerseys on the backs of fans on the way in to Lenovo Center — this seems like a good time to check in on how all the Buffalo Boys are doing.

By our count, 25 Manitobans have suited up for at least one NHL game this year. Here are their stats, prior to Friday’s action:

• F Morgan Geekie, 27, Strathclair: 25 games with the Boston Bruins, 17 goals (second in the NHL behind Nathan MacKinnon), 6 assists, 23 points.
• F Seth Jarvis, 23, Winnipeg: 23 games with the Carolina Hurricanes, 12 goals, 7 assists, 19 points.
• F Mark Stone, 33, Winnipeg: 7 games with the Vegas Golden Knights (he just returned from injury), 3 goals, 11 assists, 14 points.
• D Joel Edmundson, 32, Brandon: 23 games with the Los Angeles Kings, 1 goal, 9 assists, 10 points.
• D Denton Mateychuk, 21, Dominion City: 23 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5 goals, 4 assists, 9 points.
• D Ryan Pulock, 31, Grandview: 24 games with the New York Islanders, 0 goals, 9 assists, 9 points.
• F Conor Dewar, 26, The Pas: 22 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5 goals, 3 assists, 8 points.
• F Jonathan Toews, 37, Winnipeg: 22 games with the Winnipeg Jets, 3 goals, 5 assists, 8 points .
• D Travis Sanheim, 29, Elkhorn: 22 games with the Philadelphia Flyers, 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points.
• F Jordan Martinook, 33, Brandon: 23 games with the Carolina Hurricanes, 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points.
• D Damon Severson, 31, Brandon: 24 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, 1 goal, 6 assists, 7 points.
• F Brett Howden, 27, Oakbank: 19 games with the Vegas Golden Knights, 4 goals, 2 assists, 6 points.
• F Max Domi, 30, Winnipeg: 23 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3 goals, 3 assists, 6 points.
• F Cody Glass, 26, Winnipeg: 12 games with the New Jersey Devils, 4 goals, 0 assists, 4 points.
• F Tyson Kozak, 23, Souris: 17 games with the Buffalo Sabres, 2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points.
• F Keegan Kolesar, 28, Winnipeg: 23 games with the Vegas Golden Knights, 0 goals, 3 assists, 3 points.
• D Zach Whitecloud, 29, Brandon: 23 games with the Vegas Golden Knights, 0 goals, 3 assists, 3 points.
• F Ryan Reaves, 38, Winnipeg: 20 games with the San Jose Sharks, 2 goals, 0 assists, 2 points.
• F Conor Geekie, 21, Strathclair: 6 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point.
• D Daemon Hunt, 23, Brandon: 7 games with the Minnesota Wild, 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point.
• D Travis Hamonic, 35, St. Malo: 15 games with the Detroit Red Wings, 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point.
• D Dylan McIlrath, 33, Winnipeg: 3 games with the Washington Capitals, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points.
• D Owen Pickering, 21, St. Adolphe: 4 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points.
• G Joel Hofer, 25, Winnipeg: 11 games with the St. Louis Blues. 2-5-2, 3.82 goals-against average, .869 save percentage.
• G Trent Miner, 24, Brandon: 2 games with the Colorado Avalanche. 0-0-2, 2.12 goals-against average, .909 save percentage.

Based on the above, the Vegas Golden Knights (4 players) continue to lead the way in local flavour, with the Carolina Hurricanes (2), Columbus Blue Jackets (2) and Pittsburgh Penguins (2) next in line. That leaves 15 other teams with a single player, and 13 who currently have no Manitobans at the NHL level.

Around the glass

Familiar faces turned foes

With Nikolaj Ehlers facing off against the Jets on Friday for the second time in a week, let’s take a quick trip around the league to check on how other old friends of the franchise are doing.

Again, we’ve ranked them in order of point production:

• F Jack Roslovic: 23 games with the Edmonton Oilers, 10 goals, 8 assists, 18 points.
• F Nikolaj Ehlers: 23 games with the Carolina Hurricanes, 4 goals, 11 assists, 15 points.
• D Jacob Trouba: 23 games with the Anaheim Ducks, 4 goals, 9 assists, 13 points.
• F Tyler Toffoli: 24 games with the San Jose Sharks, 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points.
• F Evander Kane: 24 games with the Vancouver Canucks, 4 goals, 8 assists, 12 points.
• F Mikey Eyssimont: 25 games with the Boston Bruins, 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points.
• F Joel Armia: 23 games with the Los Angeles Kings, 5 goals, 6 assists, 11 points.
• F Sean Monahan: 24 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2 goals, 8 assists, 10 points.
• D Nate Schmidt: 24 games with the Utah Mammoth, 1 goal, 9 assists, 10 points.
• F Mason Appleton: 24 games with the Detroit Red Wings, 3 goals, 6 assists, 9 points.
• F Andrew Copp: 24 games with the Detroit Red Wings, 1 goal, 8 assists, 9 points.
• D Brenden Dillon: 23 games with the New Jersey Devils, 2 goals, 5 assists, 7 points.
• D Ben Chiarot: 24 games with the Detroit Red Wings, 3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points.
• D Tyler Myers: 24 games with the Vancouver Canucks, 1 goal, 5 assists, 6 points.
• F Kevin Stenlund: 24 games with the Utah Mammoth, 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points.
• F Kevin Hayes: 7 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points.
• D Kyle Capobianco: 9 games with the Dallas Stars, 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points.
• F Jansen Harkins: 13 games with the Anaheim Ducks, 2 goals, 0 assists, 2 points.
• F Jeff Malott: 16 games with the Los Angeles Kings, 2 goals, 0 assists, 2 points.
• F Patrik Laine (currently on injured reserve): 5 games with the Montreal Canadiens, 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point.
• D Declan Chisholm: 10 games with the Washington Capitals, 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point.
• F Brandon Tanev: 24 games with the Utah Mammoth, 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point.
• D Dmitry Kulikov: 2 games with the Florida Panthers, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points.
• D Derek Forbort (currently on injured reserve): 2 games with the Vancouver Canucks, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points.
• F Pierre-Luc Dubois (currently on injured reserve): 6 games with the Washington Capitals, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points.
• D Zach Bogosian: 8 games with the Minnesota Wild, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points.

That’s 26 players, with Detroit, Utah and Vancouver (3 each) leading the way and Anaheim, Los Angeles and Washington (2 each) right behind. Defenceman Johnny Kovacevic would make it 27 skaters, and a pair of New Jersey Devils, but he has yet to make his season debut as he works his way back from off-season surgery.

That leaves 14 other teams who don’t currently have an ex-Jet to suit up this year.

Brossoit off IR ASAP

There’s another former Jets player who may start making some waves around the league. That would be goaltender Laurent Brossoit, who hasn’t played since he left Winnipeg as a free agent following the 2023-24 season.

Brossoit — who had a sparkling 2.00 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 23 games that year behind Connor Hellebuyck — signed a two-year, US$6.6 million deal with the Chicago Blackhawks that summer but has been sidelined by injuries ever since.

However, the 32-year-old is now working his way back after hip surgery and will soon be ready to play. Problem is, the Blackhawks are set in net with Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom representing both the present and the future.

That’s led to trade speculation, especially with plenty of teams around the league right now needing some goaltending help — the Edmonton Oilers being at the top of that list. Brossoit played his junior hockey with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL and began his NHL career with the Oilers, playing 28 games over parts of four years.

Winnipeg is also a little thin in the crease right now with Hellebuyck expected to be out until after Christmas following recent arthroscopic knee surgery. Could a reunion with the Jets — where Brossoit has put up the best performances of his career during two previous stints — be in the cards? We wouldn’t rule it out.

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