Jarvis has shoulder surgery, out 'probably' 4-6 months for Hurricanes

The Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes will be without forward Seth Jarvis for at least the first month, and maybe longer, of the 2026-27 season.

General manager Eric Tulsky announced on Friday that Jarvis had shoulder surgery and will be out “probably 4-6 months,” meaning the earliest he could return is late October.

“Hopefully on the shorter end of that,” Tulsky said. ”But that’s the range we were given.”

Tulsky said it’s the same shoulder that bothered Jarvis during the 2023-24 season, when he played 81 games despite a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

“Shoulders are tough,” 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.”

Jarvis, who played for Canada at the 2026 Milan Olympics, had 66 points (32 goals, 34 assists) in 71 games this season. The 24-year-old forward then had 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 19 games during Carolina’s run to the Stanley Cup.

Tulsky also announced forward Eric Robinson had knee surgery and will be out 6-8 weeks.

Robinson, 31, had 18 points (12 goals, six assists) in 67 regular-season games, and eight points (three goals, five assists) in 19 postseason games.

Tulsky said the Hurricanes had “a long list of injuries” after the playoffs, but Jarvis and Robinson were the only players who required surgery.

Tulsky added that he has spoken with goalie Frederik Andersen, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, though he isn’t yet sure if he will be re-signed.

“Freddie was very good for us this year, was outstanding in the playoffs,” Tulsky said. “He’s been a big piece, and we would certainly like to have him back if that’s where things go. If it’s not, then we will wish him the best.”

Andersen, 36, started the first 16 games this postseason for Carolina but was pulled at the start of the third period in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final after he said he “tweaked” his knee in Game 2. He was replaced by Brandon Bussi, who went 3-1-0, including getting a shutout in Carolina's Cup-clinching 3-0 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6.

Tulsky also discussed the status of pending restricted agent defenseman Alexander Nikishin, who had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 81 games as a rookie this season and one assist in 17 playoff games. Tulsky said there was less urgency to begin contract talks with Nikishin, 24, because he doesn’t have arbitration rights.

"That was an easy one to kind of put on hold for a couple weeks and come back to in July," he said.

As for trade rumors surrounding Nikishin, Tulsky continued: “He was a big piece of our team this past year and may be a big piece going forward. Every single player on our team is an option for a trade if there are ways to get better, and naturally the one who’s not under contract is the one who stirs up a bunch of speculation. But our goal is to keep taking steps any way we can.”