Devil 2025-26 Player Preview: Arseni Gritsyuk – Hockey Writer – New Jersey Devils
With New Jersey Devils Hockey officially taking place in less than a week, fans are anxiously awaiting what the 2025-26 season will offer the club. Finally, they have an elite combination of offensive talent, goalkeepers, defense and now deep scores. Newcomers and veterans are preparing for an exciting campaign, and their lineup is already producing chemistry outside of Taiwan. As always, the series will serve as a preview and prediction of what the season might be for each member of the Devil’s lineup before the season opener on October 9.
The installment focused on Arseni Gritsyuk, who certainly lived up to the hype and proved that he deserved a place on the roster.
Arseni Gritsyuk: It’s clear at a glance
Drafting: 129Th Overall (5Th Round) 2019 New Jersey Devil
Contract status: First year, Average annual value of $1.425 million (AAV)
2024-25 KHL Statistics: 17 goals, 27 assists (44 points in 49 games)
Career KHL Statistics: 68 goals, 84 assists (152 points in 216 games)
2024-25 season review
For Devils fans, Grisic has been here for a long time. The 24-year-old was selected as No. 129 in the fifth round of the 2019 draft, but was not signed until the beginning of the year. Instead, he spent his final five seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), developing his high-end offensive skills in his own home country.
In that time frame, he played for Avangard Omsk and Ska St. Petersburg, surpassing the 30-point threshold for the past three seasons. Not only did he help lead his team to the Gagarin Cup in 2020-21, he also won the Aleksei Cherepanov Award next season, the best rookie in the KHL. The 2024-25 season was his best performance so far, with 17 goals and 27 assists in 49 games. His 44 points in the regular season marks the highest level of his KHL career, but Grisick also made an impact in the playoffs, scoring five points in six games.
His decision to stay in Russia to hone his game undoubtedly paid off. Grtisyuk benefited from his usual ice time, making him a dynamic forward and one of Ska St. Petersburg’s leading scorers. In particular, he became an outstanding performance in the power competition with his deadly single athletic ability and excellent skating ability. He played the top six characters, generating countless high-quality scoring opportunities, combining speed and skill.
Once his KHL contract is over, Gritsyuk thinks it’s time to try to pursue his long-term dream of playing in the NHL. So he signed a one-year contract with the Devil, which had a cap of $925,000. In early September, he arrived in New Jersey, hoping to adapt better in North America. Assistant coach Sergei Brylin and recently acquired veteran Evgenii Dadonov made him feel welcome and provided additional translations and clarifications as needed. Gritsyuk has certainly started the job, took English classes and reached out to his best footsteps on the ice. Only one question remains: Can he raise a challenge and provide the offensive depth that the devil needs?
2025-26 Expectations
After a great preseason performance, it was clear that Gritsyuk was already at the NHL level and could succeed in six roles. In just five games, he has chemistry with numerous tours, especially with Paul Cotter and Luke Glendening. For now, Gritsyuk is likely to play on the Devil’s fourth line, but he also spent some time with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
During his debut against the Hudson River, he set the bar high up in the New York Rangers and immediately mounted on the Devil’s bench. Gritsyuk’s game was a two-pointer game, which included six shots and a 5-3 loss of power goals. His second preseason goal was an exciting break-in that allowed the team to lead the New York Islanders 3-1. He even finished the preseason with a strong performance against Philadelphia Flyers and played on the front line with Cotter and Glendening. He scored two Devil goals on Saturday’s ice and got an assist, and shot three shots on the goal and made two rebound attempts.
Real grit. pic.twitter.com/rid9xt2xvj
– New Jersey Devils (@njdevils) September 27, 2025
In five preseason matchups, he scored two goals and two assists in all cases, as well as 66.67 goals (GF%) and 59.03% Fenwick. Likewise, he made a good first impression in the Devil’s Power game, where he helped create 30 shot attempts and 13 advanced scoring opportunities. Gritsyuk can add momentum to their second unit, thus providing an extra offensive ability to the advantage of the person.
Related: Devils 2025-26 Player Preview: Luke Hughes
Gritsyuk has also become a fan favorite and has released frequent updates on the Telegram app – showing positive, honest ideas about practice, gameplay, and even just showing his cooking skills. His teammates are very excited about his transition to the NHL. For example, Cotter tells the media about his impressed impression of Gritsyuk so far. “Obviously, it’s a whole new alliance, a whole new world for him…a happy person and will be a huge addition to our team,” Cotter said.
His highly anticipated rookie sport should make the 2025-26 season exciting. He has provided much-needed offensive depth that is perfect for NHL life. If Gritsyuk could spark the Devil’s fourth line, he could even pave the way for a deeper playoffs.
