New Jersey Devils rookie Arseny Gritsyuk was one of the best players on the ice on Wednesday against the Seattle Kraken. Is an extension on the horizon for the Devils rookie?
General manager Tom Fitzgerald met with the New Jersey media ahead of puck drop on Wednesday to address a laundry list of questions amid a rollercoaster 2025-26 season.
One of those questions was whether it’s a priority for the Devils GM to sign Gritsyuk to an extension sooner rather than later
“We do plan on that,” Fitzgerald said. “He was an unknown. We didn’t know what we were going to have [in him]. We talk about depth scoring; we didn’t know what we were going to have that in him, and when a player like that comes in, and we feel he can pop and can still be better, you feel very lucky to do this. So, yeah.”
Gristyuk has been one of the bright spots in a season where the Devils have been incredibly inconsistent.
However, Gritsyuk has brought it each night, displaying high hockey IQ, excellent vision, plus playmaking, and an elite shot.
Through 43 games in his rookie NHL season, Gritsyuk has accrued eight goals and 18 points. He is tied for 12th overall in the rookie scoring race. He’s on pace to finish the season with 15 goals and 33 points.
Gritsyuk has mostly been deployed as a third-line winger alongside Cody Glass and Connor Brown. That trio has shown great chemistry, such as on Wednesday in the Cryptid Cup when the Devils’ third line accrued an elite 96.55 xGF% and 4-1 scoring chance differential.
Individually, Gritsyuk led the Devils with 96.27 xGF%, which was even ahead of Jack Hughes‘ 89.99%.
Gritsyuk has also been given top-six opportunities, showing chemistry with Jack and Jesper Bratt.
The Devils inked the 24-year-old Russian forward to a one-year entry-level contract this past summer. He spent the previous six seasons playing in Russia in the KHL after the Devils selected him in the fifth round of te 2019 NHL Draft.
Gritsyuk won the Gagarin Cup Championship—the KHL’s Stanley Cup—in the 2020-21 season.
