Seth Jarvis sheds no-contact jersey at Hurricanes skate

Since camp opened, Jarvis has skated in yellow, the colour that tells teammates not to touch him. Thursday morning before the Canucks game, he finally wasn't wearing it.

Walt Ruff

@WaltRuff

Well, well, well… Seth Jarvis (offseason shoulder surgery) is in a regular practice jersey at morning skate for the #Canes. It is the first time we have seen him not in yellow. He’s working as an extra to start the day, so he’s not ready to return yet, but still a great sign. t.co/FuRxbz6V5O

Pump the brakes a little, though. Jarvis worked as an extra, so he isn't stepping into the lineup tonight. Still, going from no-contact to regular practice gear is the step that turns rehab into getting ready to play. Until now he's basically been a guy skating laps near an NHL practice. Now he can actually get hit.

Jarvis sees it the same way. He said the surgically repaired shoulder feels good and called getting out of the yellow the biggest step he's had so far.

Walt Ruff

@WaltRuff

Seth Jarvis, who is out of a yellow, no-contact jersey as of this morning, says his surgically repaired shoulder feels good. "Just easing into contact is kind of the biggest step... Now it's just a matter of getting comfortable, making sure it's ready to go."

The backstory explains why everyone in Raleigh is tracking this so closely. The torn labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder first bothered him back in 2023-24, and he played 81 games that season anyway. Then he gutted out 71 regular-season games with 66 points last year, plus 11 points in 19 playoff games on the way to the Stanley Cup. GM Eric Tulsky said the deep playoff runs kept pushing the surgery back until, as he put it, "at some point, you just need to do it." Jarvis finally had it done in late June.

Here's the part that cools things off. Nobody has moved the date up.

Walt Ruff

@WaltRuff

There is no updated timeline for when we could see him in a game. "Probably four to six months" from the end of June was what we've always been told.

Counting 4-6 months from the end of June puts the earliest realistic return in late October, with December as the far end of the range. Jarvis said in mid-September that he was "a little ahead of schedule," and being cleared for contact on October 8 fits that. It doesn't mean he's coming back next week. The contact work is where shoulders get tested for real, and the Canes have no reason to rush a guy they just won a Cup with.

Carolina has been fine without him so far. The Canes went for a 3rd straight win against Vancouver with Pyotr Kochetkov in the starter's crease, and Jarvis in white was the only change from the usual group of skaters at morning skate.

Walt Ruff

@WaltRuff

The #Canes eye a third straight win tonight when they host the Canucks. Pyotr Kochetkov is in the starter's crease at morning skate. Aside from Seth Jarvis in a regular practice jersey, there are no changes to the lineup of skaters. Carrier - Aho - Svechnikov Hall - Stankoven - Blake Ehlers - Staal - Martinook Robinson - Jankowski - Kotkaniemi Deslauriers - Jarvis Slavin - Chatfield Miller - Walker Gostisbehere - Reilly Valimaki Kochetkov | Bussi

What to watch next: whether Jarvis moves from extra into an actual line rush at practice, and whether the team finally puts a date on it. Once he's taking hits for a week without any setbacks, the late-October floor stops looking optimistic. When he does come back, he gives a top-6 that's already rolling a scorer who put up 66 points on a bad shoulder.