Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes is a late addition to the Canadian Olympic hockey team. He will replace Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Point has been out of action with an undisclosed injury and he had hoped to make it back into action before the break for the Winter Olympics. However, he missed Tampa Bay's last two games against the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres, and he will not play in Thursday night's game against the Florida Panthers.

As a result, Point came to the conclusion that he would not be close to his best during the upcoming Winter Olympics at Milan Cortina, and he was replaced by Jarvis.

Lightning general manager Julian BriseBois said this was brutal news for Point and Anthony Cirelli, who will also miss the games with an injury. “Devastating. Incredible selflessness on his part (and Cirelli's),” BriseBois said. “They could’ve have pushed to play at less than 100% but showed character of the highest order in giving up their spot to someone healthier and more apt to help Canada win gold.”

Jarvis is a deserving replacement

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Jarvis was a part of Canada's gold medal-winning team in the 4 Nations Face-Off last year. He has scored 25 goals and added 18 assists while playing in 43 games this season. The Hurricanes are in first place in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference.

Point has been out since suffering an injury against the Philadelphia Flyers in mid-January. He will have been out for 10 consecutive games at the conclusion of the meeting with Panthers Thursday night.

Point is a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Lightning. He is one of 10 players on Tampa Bay who have been selected to play in the Olympics. Those teammates include Cirelli and forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand (Denmark), Zemgus Girgensons (Latvia), Jake Guentzel (United States), Brandon Hagel (Canada) and Pontus Holmberg (Sweden), and defensemen Erik Cernak (Slovakia), Victor Hedman (Sweden) and J.J. Moser (Switzerland).