Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis out 4-6 months after shoulder surgery
Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis has undergone shoulder surgery and will need four to six months of recovery time, general manager Eric Tulsky said Friday.
The news on Jarvis came from Tulsky after the first round of the NHL Draft was completed. The Canes held the No. 31 pick but traded it to the Nashville Predators for the No. 42 and No. 57 picks in the second round.
Tulsky, in a media briefing after the first round, confirmed the Jarvis surgery and said forward Eric Robinson had a knee procedure that will keep him out six to eight weeks. Tulsky said no other medical procedures are planned in the offseason.
Jarvis, 24, had been slowed by shoulder issues the past few seasons and often used a protective shoulder brace. The injury hampered him during the Canes’ run to the Stanley Cup, their first in 20 years.
Jarvis, a member of Team Canada in the Milan Olympics, had a team-high 32 goals for the Canes in the regular season. He finished with four goals and 11 points in the 19 playoff games, scoring the overtime winner in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The length of the recovery period from the surgery should sideline Jarvis the first few months of the 2026-27 season.
Tulsky noted shoulder injuries are among the toughest, with a player able to continue competing but reaggravating the injury. Jarvis had labrum and rotator cuff injuries in 2023 but opted not to have surgery.
“It can limit what you do and eventually needs to be repaired,” Tulsky said. “You can strengthen it and try to get through it and he was able to do that for a while. Last season we had a deep (playoff) run and he looked at the timeline and didn’t want to miss a big chunk of the (2025-26) season. Then we had another deep run.
“At some point you need to do it (surgery). You can’t be limited for the rest of your career. You start thinking maybe we’re going to have deep runs every year and you’re just going to have to bite the bullet and get it done.”
It was the third straight year the Hurricanes elected to trade the pick and move down in the draft order. In 2025, they moved the pick for two second-round picks and a fifth-rounder. In 2024, they used it to obtain two second-round draft picks.
The Canes last made a first-round selection in 2023, when they took forward Bradly Nadeau.
Penn State forward Gavin McKenna, as expected, was the No. 1 overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who won the May 5 draft lottery. McKenna, 18, starred for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Hockey League before spending the 2025-26 season in collegiate hockey with the Nittany Lions.
A lot of the attention Friday was grabbed by the New York Rangers, who made a major move in trading for Vegas forward Pavel Dorofeyev. A 37-goal scorer this past season for the Golden Knights, Dorofeyev agreed to a seven-year contract extension with New York that will pay an average of $11 million a year.
Later, the St. Louis Blues worked a trade with Anaheim to bring Mason McTavish to the Blues, sending the 15th and 29th overall picks to the Ducks.
With the draft decentralized again this year, some teams were represented by a proxy — singer Justin Bieber for the Maple Leafs — to announce the draft selections. Canes forward Jordan Martinook was set to make the Carolina pick but was not needed.
The Canes’ contingent again gathered at Lenovo headquarters in Morrisville. In the war room were Tulsky and Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, along with other team executives and scouts.
Brind’Amour likely was happy to see forward Wyatt Cullen taken 10th overall by the Nashville Predators. Cullen’s father, Matt, was a member of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup champs, captained by Brind’Amour.
Wyatt Cullen was born in September 2008 when Matt was about to begin his fourth season with the Hurricanes. In an interesting twist, Matt Cullen also later played for the Predators.
Another father/son combination that was a feelgood storyline Friday: Forward Caleb Malhotra was the No. 3 pick by the Vancouver Canucks, now coached by his father, Manny.
But all in all, it was a mild opening to the draft. The remaining rounds will be Saturday and the Canes now will have five picks.
This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis out 4-6 months after shoulder surgery."
