Philadelphia Flyers 2020 Draft Spotlight: Seth Jarvis

The 18-year-old saw his draft stock soar after an impressive second half. The Flyers should keep an eye on him if he falls during the draft.

Seth Jarvis was one of those players who started slowly before completely blowing everyone out of the water later on. He was projected to be a mid-to-late second-rounder earlier in the season. He is now ranked as high as 10th, Dobber Prospects being the one to have him that high. For reference, the Flyers don’t pick until the mid-’20s.

The lowest Jarvis appears to be ranked is 29th by ISS Hockey. Bob McKenzie sees him 24th. NHL Central Scouting and Elite Prospect are among the highest as they have him 11th. While his draft stock swings in different directions, it is still a huge jump from where he was listed previously. As we’ve seen before, height could play a factor in where Jarvis is drafted. He comes in a 5’10” and is currently listed at 172 lbs.

The Flyers haven’t been afraid to take smaller players as Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, and Shayne Gostisbehere are around the same height. Joel Farabee comes in weighing less than Jarvis. And each player has been able to contribute to the team.

In his second season with the Portland Winterhawks, Jarvis has taken huge strides in his development. After posting 39 points in his first full WHL season, there was almost a 60-point increase in his production after this season. Jarvis went from seventh on the team in points last season to leading the team by close to 30 points.

And that was all thanks to a surge in play after the new year came around. He collected 65 points in the final 29 games to finish second in the WHL in scoring. Only Adam Beckman of the Spokane Chiefs had more points. Jarvis finished second playing in fewer games than all but one of the top five WHL scorers.

Ask Jarvis and his success this season wasn’t a surprise. Losing Cody Glass and Joachim Blichfeld, he knew that someone was going to have to take over the role of scoring. When asked about his scoring outburst this season, this is what he had to say in an article written by Paul Danzer from the Portland Tribune.

"“I wanted to take charge, I wanted to take charge of the offensive and the defensive responsibilities. And I wanted to really put myself on the map. I think that’s what I tried to go out there and accomplish.”"

His surge in the second half landed him on the WHL’s Western Conference First All-Star Team.

Jarvis was also a part of the Canada U18 team at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He grabbed two goals and two assists in five games. He helped the team win a silver medal in the tournament.

If Jarvis happens to fall to the Flyers, it would be hard for them to let him go any longer. Of course, he will need more time to bulk up to adjust to the strength of the NHL. But with the potential to become a top-six forward, he could help continue to round out the team’s forward depth.