Carolina had their chance to bask in the glory of their second Stanley Cup championship in franchise history for a few weeks, but now the reality of preparing for 2026-27 has begun. With the parade, interviews, and celebratory functions out of the way, leading goal scorer Seth Jarvis underwent a procedure on his injured shoulder which will keep him off the ice for 4-6 months.
After averaging nearly a point per game (0.93) and potting 32 goals in the regular season, Jarvis wasn’t nearly as effective during the team’s championship run, netting just 4 goals across 19 contests. As is tradition in the NHL, following the conclusion of the series, Carolina confirmed what many had already speculated, that the 24 year old was dealing with an upper body injury which hampered his play.
While the club remained fairly light on details, it’s worth noting that Jarvis dealt with a labrum/rotator-cuff injury in his right shoulder during the 2023-24 campaign. Whether the procedure he underwent was a re-aggravation of the previous issue, or a new one altogether remains up for debate.
“Shoulders are tough,” GM Eric Tulsky said. “Once it goes, you can keep aggravating it and it can limit what you can do and it’s tough, and eventually it needs to be repaired. You can strengthen it and try to get through it, and he did that for a while. Last year [in 2024-25], we had a deep run. If we had missed the playoffs last year, he probably would’ve had this last summer, I would guess, but we had a deep run [lost in Eastern Conference Final], and he started looking at the timeline and didn’t want to miss a big chunk of the season.”
“Then we got to this year and had another deep run, and at some point, you just need to do it. 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 are just going to have to bite the bullet and get it done.”
In addition to Jarvis, Tulsky also confirmed that forward Eric Robinson would be undergoing surgery on his knee to address a lingering issue. With both Jarvis and Robinson expected to be out for an extended period of time, Tulsky hinted that top forward prospect Bradly Nadeau would be likely to get an extended look in training camp and the start of the regular season.
The Hurricanes were without a 1st round pick on Friday night at the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, but would get their first crack at adding to their prospect pool on Saturday in Buffalo.
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