Photo Credit: Keith Dwiggins / Portland Winterhawks
Seth Jarvis is a 2020 NHL Draft eligible prospect, who hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba. For youth hockey, Jarvis played for the Winnipeg Monarchs (U14 AAA) and for Rink Hockey Academy (Bantam and U18). In his time at Rink Hockey Academy (CSSHL), he played alongside Tristen Robins (Saskatoon Blades, 2020 eligibility), Brock Gould (Moose Jaw Warriors, 2020 eligibility) and Carson Lambos (Winnipeg ICE, 2021 eligibility).
After the 2017-2018 CCSHL playoffs concluded, Jarvis joined the Portland Winterhawks and made his WHL debut. In his first full season in the WHL (2018-19), he tallied 16 goals and 23 assists in 61 games played. While that season was respectable in terms of offensive production, Jarvis more than doubled his production this past season (2019-20). In 58 games, he mustered up 42 goals and 56 assists. Jarvis had the second highest point total in the WHL. Adam Beckman (Spokane Chiefs, Minnesota Wild prospect) bested him by nine points. But, Jarvis did lead all 2020 NHL Draft eligibles in the WHL in points. He recorded 12 points more than Connor Zary (Kamloops Blazers) and managed to out-produce Tristen Robins, Gage Goncalves (Everett Silvertips), Ozzy Wiesblatt (Prince Albert Raiders), Jake Neighbours (Edmonton Oil Kings), Oliver Okuliar (Lethbridge Hurricanes) and Ridly Greig (Brandon Wheat Kings).
Player Profile
D.O.B – February 1, 2002
Nationality – Canada
Draft Eligibility – 2020
Height –5’10
Weight –172 lbs
Position – Right Wing
Handedness – Right
Jarvis’ Style Of Play
When you tune into a Portland Winterhawks game, you quickly see that the player that possesses the strongest motor, mobility and determination to bring home a win game-in game-out is Seth Jarvis. From a transitional and puck movement perspective, Jarvis shines in almost every shift. But, even in those instances where Jarvis does not possess the puck, he constantly looks for opportunities to muster scoring chances. The Winnipeg native does a great job of identifying open lanes or lanes that are about to be open. When he sees a fellow forward carry the puck up the boards and there is only one defenseman standing guard, Jarvis follows the rush and goes to the right or left of the defenseman.
As I mentioned above, given his quality motor and desire to move the puck, he completes plenty of controlled zone entries. With his crossovers, he manages to accelerate at a quick pace. Jarvis has quick feet and his footwork is unmatched by any 2020 NHL Draft eligible forward. There are other forward prospects that have strong crossovers, but Jarvis seems to deploy them at a faster rate, which allows him to push himself up the ice at a much faster speed. In addition, his edge work when turning (look at the four second mark and at the eight second mark) are in fine form. His edges allow for tight turns and due to his feet placement, he still remains very mobile. What I love about Jarvis is his willingness to adapt and fight for the puck. Even though Jarvis’ frame is on the smaller side, he still has a lot of fight in his game. He will challenge anyone regardless of size and does so in the clip. Once he maintains possession of the puck in the neutral zone, he shows persistency and attacks the offensive zone yet again. In fact, in the neutral zone, he will pass the puck off the boards with tight pressure in his face. When you watch Jarvis’ transitional play, he will more than often opt to pass the puck off the boards in an effort to buy more open ice.
Like his teammate Cross Hanas (2020 eligible prospect), Jarvis possesses strong puck-handling. Jarvis is quite dominant at controlling the puck with both hands or even one hand. Similar to Rodion Amirov (2020 eligible prospect), Jarvis manages to control the puck with his non-dominant hand, but still has some work to do in truly developing his stick-handling with his non-dominant hand. When he moves the puck with his left hand controlling his stick, it is incredibly short-lived unlike Amirov, but it is useful especially when fending off an attacker while making a sharp turn.
If you thought that Jarvis is fond of completing a backhand pass to the slot from time-to-time, you are mistaken. It is his bread and butter pass. Jarvis loves delivering backhand passes to the slot.
But, while Jarvis loves the backhand pass, he can still deliver crisp and accurate seam and cross ice passes. In the clip below from InStat Hockey, he delivers a quick tape-to-tape pass and that leads to a one-timer goal.
We have seen how dominant Jarvis is from a playmaking perspective, but he is capable of putting the puck in the back of the net himself. In the shot map below from InStat Hockey, you will see that the majority of his goals come from up close.
Given Jarvis’ stick-handling, speed, edgework and crossovers, he loves to skate to the net and score. In Cam Robinson’s post, Seth Jarvis’ Strong Second-Half Thrusts Him Into Elite Company for 2020 NHL Draft for EP Rinkside, he explained that “Jarvis is also unafraid to simple force his way into the high-danger areas using speed and puck protection.” Robinson is right on the money. With Jarvis’ handy work, he will go full-force to the net and is highly efficient at maintaining possession and not coughing it up.
While his shot is quite dominant from the slot, Jarvis does miss the mark on plenty of shots. In the shot map below, you will see the areas in which Jarvis missed shots from this past season. Quite a few missed shots occurred in the slot. Given how dominant he is in the slot, it is interesting to see him struggle to get shots on net. One of Jarvis’ goals should be to further develop his shot, especially from in close.
In the defensive zone, Jarvis is not as aggressive as he is in the offensive zone. There are times where he plays more of an insurance role, but there are also instances where he will get a bit physical with his board play. Even though his frame is on the smaller end of the stick, he can be physical when needed. Also, you can expect Jarvis with his quality stride to chase after loose pucks.
Comparison
Mitch Marner, Right Wing, Toronto Maple Leafs
With Jarvis’ size and playing style, he plays a similar to game to Marner. Both wingers possess top-notch crossovers and speed. Over time, Marner has truly honed in on his play-making ability and that has become his bread and butter. While we have seen Jarvis score a number of goals in the CHL, I believe that he will always be a play-making forward first and that will translate into more assists at the NHL level then goals.
stats from InStat Hockey and EliteProspects
Prospect report written by Josh Tessler. If you would like to follow Josh on Twitter, his handle is @JoshTessler_.
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