Seth Jarvis' game continues to evolve but his sense of humor remains the same

By Pat Welter, WRAL Sports reporter

Ask players in the Hurricanes locker room how to describe Seth Jarvis and you'll immediately get a sly smile.

"On PG TV?" Jordan Martinook laughed. "He's just full of energy just love being around a guy like that."

"He's a little energizer bunny in this room," Jordan Staal said. "He might need to learn a few more things before he opens his mouth too much, but we keep an eye on him."

At 21 years old Jarvis is the youngest player on the Hurricanes roster. The second year center from Winnipeg has embraced everything that comes with it.

"Last year it was kind of my job and this year still," Jarvis said. "Just bringing fun energy, making sure everyone's having fun and laughing at the rink."

Watch Jarvis for a shift during a game or a rep during a drill at practice and you'll see his personality and sense of humor shine. Making his teammates laugh began with a desire to get a one out of his dad.

"[My dad] kind of has a dry sense of humor so I grew up trying to make him laugh and it was impossible," Jarvis said. "It's still my goal. It kind of molded into wanting to make other people laugh."

If his sense of humor came from his dad, his love of hockey came from his brother Kayden.

"He's six years older than me so I grew up when he was starting hockey," Jarvis said. "My mom would carry me into the rink and I'd spend all my time watching him. I wanted to be him, I wanted to be just like him."

Kayden Jarvis is now a skills coach and works with Seth everyday in the summer. Kayden is one of the many family members that Seth keeps in mind when he plays. As lighthearted as he seems from the outside, he doesn't take his NHL opportunity for granted and all the help it took to get him here.

"My parents, they've been working two jobs since I can remember to put me through hockey and to give me everything I wanted," Jarvis said. "My grandpa, he's been battling through some dementia. So to see him kind of lose it hurt me a lot. That's probably actually where my comedy came from is him.... I think about him because the thing he does remember is that I play hockey so he will text my parents asking five or six times when the game is on so he can watch."

Jarvis was the 13th overall pick in 2020 and burst onto the scene last season with 17 goals and 23 assists in 68 games. His playoff debut came with its bumps. He took a shot below the belt, a stick to the teeth then suffered a concussion in a game seven loss to the New York Rangers in the second round.

"This time last year I didn't remember my name or where I was or what was going on," Jarvis laughed. "It's nice to move past that, but that affected me for a little bit, just head injuries aren't fun."

Jarvis has experienced some growing pains during his second season as well. His name was circulated in trade rumors at the deadline, but his number was never called.

"The trade rumors were abundant and there was a few of them, but it's nice to have the confidence from the organization and the guys in the room that I can be a contributing factor."

This postseason Jarvis has 8 points and 4 goals, including two in a game four win over the Islanders round one. His game is evolving, but the personality remains the same.

"As long as everyone keeps accepting it, I'm going to be myself."