Seth Jarvis is the latest restricted free agent to sign on the dotted line, agreeing to an eight-year, $63.2 million contract with the Hurricanes. PuckPedia shows a cap hit of $7.5 million per season, which is the fourth-highest on the Canes after Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Dmitry Orlov. Their core of Aho, Svechnikov, Jarvis, and Jaccob Slavin are now all signed for at least another five seasons each.

If you did the math and thought "Wait a minute… $63.2 divided by 8 years is actually $7.9," well, you're right. However, Jarvis has reportedly agreed to defer salary, with a savings of $400,000 per season on the cap. That allows the Canes a bit more cap space in their quest to win a Stanley Cup. For a much more detailed explanation, go to Daily Faceoff.

Jarvis took a major leap forward in his third season, reaching career highs in both goals (33) and assists (34). That can be attributed to an overall icetime increase of two and a half minutes, which included a move to the top power play. His shooting percentage of 18.8% was higher than normal and might result in a slight goal regression, but Jarvis is still on the right track to at least maintain his 2023-24 numbers. With Jarvis not yet 23 years of age, this contract could become an efficient one for the Hurricanes.

Jarvis has a current ADP of 78.7 in Yahoo and 94.94 in Fantrax. I was able to draft him at 123 in one recent Yahoo mock draft. He should provide great value as an option that is C- and RW-eligible if you can add him after pick 100.

Some prominent RFAs have still yet to sign with their clubs, which is something to pay attention to if they are delayed into training camp. Those unsigned RFAs include Jeremy Swayman, Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider, Thomas Harley, Cole Perfetti, Dawson Mercer, and Nicholas Robertson, who reportedly would like to be moved out of Toronto.

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PTO season is upon us. Many of the names that I listed as yet-to-be-signed free agents back on July 5 still haven't found homes for the 2024-25 season. One of these players at least landed a PTO on Saturday, as Tyler Johnson will be attending Bruins training camp on a tryout. Over his past two seasons on a Chicago team lacking in proven scoring, Johnson picked up 63 points in 123 games, which averaged out to an 82-game pace of 42 points.

Even after signing Elias Lindholm during the offseason, the Bruins still aren't overly deep at center and could even use another winger or two. The odds of a player landing a full-time spot with a team from a professional tryout usually aren't that good, but there is a potential fit for Johnson on the Bruins if he has a strong camp. The 34-year-old Johnson could also provide some much-needed experience, having won two Stanley Cups with Tampa Bay.

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One other signing: the Utah Hockey Club has signed 35-year-old defenseman Robert Bortuzzo to a one-year, two-way contract. Bortuzzo split time between the Blues and Islanders last season, failing to register a point in 27 games. The only player to play in more games than Bortuzzo without recording a point was Colin White (28 GP).

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The Dobber Tiered Invitational League is looking for members! If you are interested in competing against your fellow DobberHockey readers to become an ultimate champion, please go to this thread in the Forum to review the league details and find out how to join.

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Some other news from this past week:

Arturs Silovs has minor knee inflammation that has resulted in him being held out from Latvia's upcoming Olympic qualifying games. It sounds like the injury is more on the minor side and shouldn't affect his availability for training camp, but the fact that Silovs is also dealing with something could have a major impact on the Canucks' season. It makes even more sense now for the Canucks to pursue another goalie, with their sights reportedly set on free agent Kevin Lankinen. As it stands, the next goalie up for the Canucks is free agent signing Jiri Patera, as it sounds like Thatcher Demko won't be ready for training camp and could even miss the start of the season.

Laurent Brossoit recently underwent meniscus surgery on his right knee, which is expected to take 5-7 weeks to recover. That could mean Brossoit could miss the start of the season for the Blackhawks. Brossoit has been a backup for all of his NHL career, never reaching 25 games in a season. That number stood to increase with the Blackhawks paying him $3.3 million per season on a two-year contract to back up Petr Mrazek. He could still reach the 25-game mark, as it doesn't sound like he will miss many games.  

The Senators have signed Nick Cousins to a one-year, $800,000 contract. Cousins is a bottom-6 forward who has never reached the 30-point mark in his career, so the signing has little fantasy relevance. Because of his overly physical style of play, Cousins was voted as the most disliked player in the NHL in an anonymous player survey conducted by The Athletic. For that reason, he might be an occasional streamer if you need hits, but that's about it.

According to the Hurricanes, Jesper Fast has undergone neck surgery and is not expected to play in 2024-25. Fast is a bottom-6 forwards for the Canes, so he was unlikely to hold any fantasy value. However, this injury could mean that former first-round pick Tyson Jost is more likely to be an everyday player for the Canes. It could also improve the odds that Bradly Nadeau makes the club out of training camp as well.

Like Silovs, Martin Fehervary won't play in the Olympic qualifier, as he is dealing with a minor injury. Fehervary is not a scorer by any means, but he should attract bangers league interest.

That's not all for players missing Olympic qualifier games due to injury, as Oliver Bjorkstrand missed Thursday's game. Fortunately, the injury isn't believed to be serious, and he is expected to be ready for training camp.

Artturi Lehkonen skated with Avalanche teammates this week. Lehkonen is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery that could impact his availability for training camp and even the start of the season. 

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Finally, thank you to all who took the time to read yesterday's Ramblings and also to those who shared kind words. If you haven't had a chance, you can read it here. The topic was Johnny Gaudreau and only Johnny Gaudreau. I had originally planned to include some other content as well, but I decided to postpone it until today because I felt that my words on this terrible tragedy would have more impact if they were left on their own. I don't think I'm alone in saying that I'm still in shock and disbelief about what happened.

I wasn't sure how well-received the article would be, since some of the content ventured into non-hockey-related matters. Nowadays, writers might hear negative feedback when expressing personal viewpoints in the form of comments like "stick to sports." The ever-growing thread on this topic in the Forum shows that not everyone is in agreement about everything from drunk driving to where to ride a bicycle. And I know not everyone shares my opinions on the topic either.

I know fantasy hockey is why you come here, so I just wanted to say that it's awesome that the Dobber community is so supportive and understands what truly matters.

Johnny Gaudreau's wife Meredith posted tributes to her husband thanking him for the "best years of my life" and calling him the "best dad in the world" ❤️

(via IG/meredithgaudreau_) pic.twitter.com/6OK2YKf3Au

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) August 31, 2024

Johnny Father
Husband
Son
Brother
Nephew
Friend
Teammate
Role Model
Hockey

Forever pic.twitter.com/tEJaowxadh

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) August 31, 2024

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