Here’s who Carolina Hurricanes fans should pay attention to in the prospect tourney

Seth Jarvis is looking forward to the next few weeks, remaining hopeful and optimistic.

Jarvis, the Carolina Hurricanes’ first-round draft pick in 2020, will first be in Tampa, Florida, where the Tampa Bay Lightning are hosting the 2021 NHL Prospects Showcase. The Canes will play three games — against the Florida Panthers (Saturday), host Lightning (Sunday) and then the Nashville Predators (Tuesday).

Jarvis’ plan is a simple one: play well enough in Tampa to be invited to the Canes’ preseason training camp — Carolina’s big camp.

And then?

“My main goal is to come in and make the team,” Jarvis said in an interview this week. “My goal is to try and crack their roster. I’ll do everything in my power to make my way on there and make their decision as hard as possible. I want to put my best foot forward and show what I can do.”

Jarvis has to be realistic about his chances. He’s 19. The Canes will have an overflow of forwards in camp and there are other prospects — forwards Ryan Suzuki, Dominik Bokk and Jack Drury, to name three — who also share the same “main goal” of turning a strong showing in Tampa into a camp invite.

Suzuki, a first-round pick by the Canes in 2019, and Bokk played for the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League in the 2021 season, a step below the NHL. Drury decided to leave Harvard and college hockey and play in the Swedish Hockey League.

Jarvis calls his 2021 season “really cool,” even though he played just 33 games in all. And the first nine games were more than cool.

With the Western Hockey League postponing the start of the 2020-21 season because of the pandemic, Jarvis was allowed to join the Wolves and get his first professional experience. He made the most of it on the ice, scoring seven goals and adding four assists in nine games and was leading the AHL in scoring.

It didn’t last. When the WHL began their training camps, Jarvis was assigned by the Canes to the Portland Winterhawks, his junior team, in early March.

Jarvis said he was a little surprised by his instant impact and production in the AHL but added, “I was playing with great players and it made it easy for me to transition and just play my game.

“I think going to Chicago was huge for me,” Jarvis said. “It gave me a little taste of what pro hockey is like.

Jarvis also benefited off the ice. That taste of pro hockey included finding a place to live, maintaining the proper nutrition and fending for himself.

“Living on my own for the first time and not having a billet family to take care of me was tough at the start but not too bad,” he said. “I loved it, had a great time in Chicago, really learned a lot from the older guys there and how to kind of survive as a pro.”

Jarvis’ departure from Chicago was, in a word, bittersweet.

“A little bit,” he said. “I was having a ton of fun, a ton of success in Chicago, so it was a little bit tough leaving.

“But going back to Portland was awesome. I have a great support staff there with coach and everybody, so it was nice to go back and play with bunch of my buddies again.”

Jarvis has offensive flair

Jarvis, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, got in 24 games for the Winterhawks, again showing the offensive flair that has made the 5-foot-10, 175-pound forward such a promising prospect. He has the quick hands, the good instincts around the net and has some toughness in his game, saying he likes to be fast and aggressive and make things happen.

“Seth’s hockey sense is elite,” Canes assistant general manager Darren Yorke said last year. “His ability to process the game and create space for himself is so imperative to make the transition from junior to the NHL easier. From a competitive standpoint, he works as hard away from the puck as he does with it.”

Jarvis may be back in Portland again this year. He’s in the position of either making the Canes roster or again being returned to junior.

Jarvis, the 13th pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the Canes just after Christmas last year. Canes president and general manager Don Waddell, after the signing, called him “an extremely talented player with elite puck skills and scoring ability.”

And someone to watch in Tampa.

2021 NHL Prospects Showcase

Saturday, September 18

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers, 10 a.m.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Nashville Predators, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 19

Nashville Predators vs. Florida Panthers, 10 a.m.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 1 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 20

Practice day

Tuesday, Sept. 21

Nashville Predators vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 10 a.m.

Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 1 p.m.