Earlier this week, a report from The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta indicated that the Hurricanes and RFA winger Seth Jarvis were nearing an agreement on a long-term contract. That is the case, as the team announced that the two sides have reached an eight-year, $63.2M contract. GM Eric Tulsky released the following statement:
“Seth is a cornerstone player for our franchise. He took another huge step last season, playing in all situations and displaying the skill and competitive drive that will make him a star in this league in the years to come.”
Typically, the AAV of a contract is the total value divided by the number of years, which in this case would be $7.9M. However, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli (who first reported the deal) reports a deferred signing bonus payment due July 1, 2032, a day after the agreement’s expiration. The contract’s AAV will check in at $7.5M by doing so. Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic adds that the deal contains $30M of signing bonus money, the breakdown of which is not yet known.
The 22-year-old was selected 13th overall by the Hurricanes in 2020. Jarvis spent his post-draft campaign in the WHL and then jumped to the NHL at 19. He put up 17 goals and 23 assists in 68 games in his rookie season and followed that up with 14 goals and 25 helpers in 82 games in his sophomore campaign.
Last season was a breakout performance for Jarvis. He set career-highs with 33 goals and 34 assists in 81 games, averaging 18:45 per night. His 67 points were good for second on the team in scoring behind only Sebastian Aho. Jarvis was also one of Carolina’s top scorers during the postseason, as he had five goals and four helpers in 11 contests, putting him third in team scoring. That certainly gave him some extra bargaining power heading into contract negotiations.
Carolina went into these discussions with roughly $6.44M in cap space, per PuckPedia, so this agreement will put them around $1M over the Upper Limit. However, with Jesper Fast expected to miss the entire season after having neck surgery, the Hurricanes will be able to put him on LTIR, getting them back into cap compliance. They can also carry a roster with fewer than the maximum of 23 players, allowing them to get under the Upper Limit that way and still bank in-season cap room.
Contracts with deferred money are rare in the NHL, but this is the second time Carolina has used them this offseason. In his report about Jarvis’ contract, Seravalli notes that there is some deferred signing bonus money in Jaccob Slavin’s contract as well, one that moves the AAV from the reported $6.461M to $6.396M. These structures have been approved by the NHL, so there won’t be any concerns about this contract getting vetoed.
Johnston noted that multiple teams, including Vegas, attempted to use this structure in talks this summer to re-sign Jonathan Marchessault. With Carolina now successfully doing this twice, it will be interesting to see if it results in an uptick in these agreements moving forward.
