Although there is no arbitration hearing date to push the process with Jarvis, Tulsky expressed confidence he will be re-signed.
“It will get done eventually,” Tulsky said. “He wants to be here forever. We want him here forever. We just have to agree on what the right number is.”
Jarvis, the No. 13 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, set NHL career-highs with 33 goals, 34 assists and 67 points in 81 games last season, his third in the NHL and had nine points (five goals, four assists) in 11 playoff games.
The 22-year-old is coming off his three-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract, which carried an AAV of $925,000. Although the goal is to lock up Jarvis long-term, Tulsky said signing him to a shorter-term bridge deal initially is among the options being discussed.
“It’s possible it will be short-term deal and then a longer-term later,” he said. “It’s possible we’ll do a long-term deal now. There’s a lot of ways of getting it done, but nobody is concerned about whether he’s going to be here for the long haul. It’s just a question of how the contract makes that work.”
Carolina was able to replace some of what it lost by re-signing unrestricted free agent defensemen Sean Walker (five years, $3.6 million AAV) and Shayne Gostisbehere (three years, $3.2 million AAV), and forwards William Carrier (six years, $2 million AAV), Jack Roslovic (one year, $2.8 million), Eric Robinson (one year, $950,000) and Tyson Jost (one year, $775,000).
Kuznetsov had one season remaining on an eight-year, $62.4 million contract he signed with the Washington Capitals on July 2, 2017. It had an average annual value of $7.8 million with Carolina being responsible for $3.9 million after Washington retained 50 percent of the 32-year-old’s salary when he was traded to Carolina on March 8 for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
“I think we’re comfortable with what we have,” Tulsky said. “Right now, our focus is on getting our last couple of RFAs signed. We are continuing to talk to teams about trade possibilities and looking at what’s left out there. There is time left in the summer, so we are still looking under every rock trying to make the team better. But I think the most likely outcome right now is that we have our group unless something surprising comes up.”
