Seth Jarvis: Sportsnet raises the idea of a hostile offer sheet from the Habs

This summer, the Habs’ goal was to improve their forward line. Drafting Ivan Demidov was a big step forward, but we know that the club is also in the running for a young top-6 forward.

Martin Necas and Trevor Zegras have been mentioned, as have Patrik Laine in the underage category and Rutger McGroarty in the under-established category.

Of the lot, Necas is probably the name that has circulated the most. He seems to want to leave, and the Hurricanes could take advantage of a little salary flexibility to come to an agreement with Seth Jarvis, among others.

However, in a piece for Sportsnet, Emily Sadler mentioned a slightly crazier idea: that Jarvis could sign… a hostile offer sheet.

And not with just anyone: with the Canadiens.

Every year, hockey fans spend time waiting and hoping that we’ll get to hear two special words: offer sheet.

With that in mind, @EmmySadler takes a look at a handful of situations and players we’re watching… just in case. https://t. co/D1BbmPqqMH

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 9, 2024

In fact, in his text, Sadler ranks various restricted free agents according to the offer sheets they could sign. Jarvis, on the other hand, falls into the “revenge” category… and obviously, that’s a reference to the Habs.

And if that’s not clear enough, she says it even more explicitly in her text:

He’ll probably get a pay raise. Few teams have the resources to afford it, but among those that do, there’s a team with the blue-white-red logo looking for a boost up front… – Emily Sadler

What helps the Habs is that they now hold all their picks for the upcoming draft. That wasn’t the case for the last draft (his second-round pick was traded for Christian Dvorak), but in 2025 and for years to come, Kent Hughes has all his own picks.

This could allow the Tricolore to offer Jarvis $9 million a year (and give his first-, second- and third-round picks to the Hurricanes), for example.

Our Offer Sheet Calculator has been updated to the 2024 values

The calculator determines which teams have the required compensation to submit an offer sheet on an RFAhttps://t.co/fTuH7jrr7d pic.twitter.com/kUa75U7vYn

– CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) June 4, 2024

Sadler doesn’t seem particularly convinced it’s going to happen (she admits she’s in it for the fun of it), but at 22 years of age and boasting a 33-goal, 67-point season, Jarvis is the kind of player the Habs might actually be interested in.

And even if it seems unlikely, imagine how much it would put the gas back into the Habs-Hurricanes rivalry. Good thing Juraj Slafkovský is already signed for eight years…