CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • December 29, 2020 Hurricanes sign Seth Jarvis to three-year, entry-level contract By Chip Alexander Jarvis, 18, will be paid $832,500 at the NHL level or $80,000 at the American Hockey League level for all three seasons, The Carolina Hurricanes have signed center Seth Jarvis, their the Canes said. He also receives a signing bonus of $277,500. first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Monday. The Canes made Jarvis the 13th overall pick of the 2020 draft. He had 42 goals and 56 assists in 58 games last season “Seth is an extremely talented player with elite puck skills and for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. scoring ability,” Canes president and general manager Don The 5-10, 172-pound Jarvis ranked second in the WHL in Waddell said in a statement. “He has a very bright future, and points, third in goals and tied for fifth in assists. The Winnipeg we are excited to watch him continue his development into an native had a point in 45 of 58 games and 28 multi-point games. NHL player.” Jarvis was awarded the 2019-20 Brad Hornung Trophy, given annually to the WHL’s most sportsmanlike player. Should the Hurricanes’ taxi squad go for dependability or potential? By Sara Civian Bean is at the perfect intersection for something like this. The 22-year-old defenseman has only appeared in two NHL I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s less than a week until games but didn’t look out of place, and after proving himself the Hurricanes take the ice for training camp Jan. 3. Now that as one of the best defensemen in the AHL last season — even the excitement of hockey coming back is sinking in, it’s time to among the vets — he’s ready to take the next step if needed. think about the specifics and quirks of the 2020-21 season. The combination of confidence that he can handle an NHL role New divisions, 56 regular-season games and the creation of and less guilt about his development considering his past two a “taxi squad” are the big three. In short, the four-to-six-man seasons in the AHL make him an obvious passenger in the taxi squad will make it easier for NHL clubs to call up players Taxi of Jerks. during a pandemic. CapFriendly tweeted out a solid Alex Nedeljkovic explanation of the details. The rules state that there must be at least one, traveling goalie So, it’s a 23-man NHL roster with an $81.5 million salary cap on the taxi squad if a team chooses less than three on their and then a max of 29 players if you include the taxi squad. NHL roster, so Nedeljkovic to the practice squad is obvious. The squad will travel and practice with the NHL team while The questions now become: 1. How will Nedeljkovic respond being paid their full AHL salaries. But what if there are a lot of to this quasi-promotion? and 2. How will the Canes use him? injuries or a COVID-19 outbreak including the taxi squad? Or what if an AHL player not on the squad starts tearing it up While it’s a pro for Nedeljkovic that the Canes can very easily meriting a call-up, or the Hurricanes want to keep some of toss him into the rotation, the 56-game schedule makes it their best prospects down in the AHL to give them more more of a risk. experience? Clark Bishop It’s strict (for a reason), but there’s an option. As much as some of us want to get all whimsical about who “There’s going to be a minimum of seven days quarantine with might get an opportunity at the NHL level with this new rule at least four negative tests before (AHL players can join the that sort of feels like a freebie, let’s be real: the NHL rarely taxi squad),” general manager Don Waddell said during a gives away freebies. They aren’t even letting the AHL players press conference last week. in the taxi squad make NHL bank. The purpose of the taxi squad is to be able to call someone up when an NHL regular Now that we’ve got the rules down, which players make the gets injured without going through a seven-day quarantine. most sense for the Hurricanes’ taxi squad? Bishop is one of the best replacement centers in the league (Author’s note: Luckily for Ryan Dzingel this isn’t an Uber and head coach Rod Brind’Amour knows he can toss him squad.) anywhere in the bottom six with no stress. Jake Bean Joakim Ryan CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • December 29, 2020 The Canes are going case-by-case with their taxi squad picks, certain high-end prospects to earn his trust over more but if Ryan makes the cut you know they’re going experienced options. dependability over stacking the squad with risky potential — and it makes sense to go dependable with this. Ryan, a 27- Ryan Suzuki and/or Joey Keane year-old defenseman with NHL playoff experience, doesn’t This is the alternate reality of Shore and/or Bracco. Again, the need time to develop in the AHL. And frankly, the Canes Canes are going case-by-case, so it probably won’t be all signed him for the luxury of not worrying about his insurance or all high-end prospects, but it’ll be interesting to development. They can — and probably will — plug him in if see if the Canes pick either Suzuki or Keane for the taxi squad needed. and what that says about both of them. I personally think both Drew Shore and/or Jeremy Bracco could use another season of pro development and it wouldn’t serve Suzuki to spend a season in limbo. But knowing the If the Hurricanes choose either or both of these offseason OHL is, for lack of better phrasing, a mess right now — and forward signings for their OG taxi squad, you’ll know they’re knowing this is a shortened season, part of me says to heck going for insurance. Doing so makes more sense to me, and with it. Where else is he going to get development? I suspect someone like Brind’Amour operates on the same thought process when you remember how hard it’s been for Top storylines that shaped NHL in 2020 Lightning's Cup win, Ovechkin's 700th goal, Ayres' victory Fairgrounds, fans ate corn dogs and fried Oreos, rode on a among those from memorable year Ferris wheel and played carnival games. by Dan Rosen 2. Women stars take over The NHL has provided a host of memorable moments in 2020 The Elite Women's 3-on-3 presented by adidas at the 2020 despite being forced to persevere through the coronavirus NHL All-Star Skills presented by New Amsterdam Vodka at pandemic. Enterprise Arena in St. Louis on Jan. 25 featured 10 of the best women's players from Canada against 10 of the best from After pausing its season on March 12, the NHL was able to the United States. come back on Aug. 1 and conduct the Stanley Cup Playoffs, culminating with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning their first Canada won 2-1, but the meaning of the event was even more championship since 2004. The NHL 2020 NHL Draft was held important; a celebration of how far the women's game has virtually before setting the stage for free agency and putting a come and how skilled the players are. The two teams shared plan in place to start the 2020-21 season. the accolades after the game, raising their sticks to salute an appreciative and chanting crowd. Prior to the pandemic, there were outdoor games, historic events and achievements. 3. Kings soar at Air Force Academy Here are 20 moments, games, events and news stories that For the second time in three years, the NHL held an outdoor defined the NHL in 2020: game on campus of a U.S. service academy, this time the 2020 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series game 1. Texas-sized Winter Classic at Falcon Stadium at the U.S. Air Force Academy on Feb. 15. The year began with 85,630 fans jamming Cotton Bowl A sellout crowd of 43,574 watched the Los Angeles Kings Stadium in Dallas on New Year's Day for the 2020 defeat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 with forward Tyler Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic between the Dallas Stars and Toffoli scoring all three goals for the first hat trick in an NHL Nashville Predators. outdoor game. It was the League's 30th outdoor game. The Stars scored three goals in the third period to defeat the The field was staged as an airfield with the cadets sitting in Predators 4-2. It was the second-largest crowd to attend an the north end and an F-16 Thunderbird fighter in the south. NHL game behind the 105,491 at the 2014 Winter Classic at Stealth fighters, F-16s and a KC-10 tanker flew overhead and Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. members of the Air Force's Wings of Blue parachute team The event featured live square dancing, pig races, jugglers, dropped into the stadium to deliver the game puck. sword swallowers, bull riders and an actual Texas longhorn.