Devils News
Devils GM Trying to Sign Top KHL Forward
General manager Tom Fitzgerald explains he’s actively trying to sign Arseni Gritsyuk to bring him to the Devils.
NEWARK—The 2025 NHL Trade Deadline was underwhelming for the New Jersey Devils. However, it could be buoyed if the Devils GM is successful in one of his next tasks. The Devils are in desperate need of offense. They own the rights to one of the top players in the KHL, and the Devils are actively trying to sign him to an NHL contract.
READ MORE: Devils Fail at NHL Trade Deadline, ‘We Came in Second’
When the Devils walked away from Friday’s trade deadline, their top acquisitions were Daniel Sprong and Cody Glass. It’s a lot less than what many were expecting after the Devils freed up over $13 million in their long-term injured reserve pool.
Yet, one of the takeaway’s from GM Tom Fitzgerald‘s post deadline media conference was when he admitted he’s currently working on signing top KHL forward Arseni Gritsyuk to an NHL contract.
“That’s what we’re trying to do right now,” Fitzgerald explained when asked about Grtisyuk’s status. “We’re trying to get him under contract right now. That’s the goal, to get him over here and give him a chance to show us what he can do.”
The Devils drafted the Russian forward in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Draft, 129th overall.
Similarly to Jesper Bratt, his offensive upside was a long-shot to pan out at the NHL level.
He took a different route than Bratt did, however. Bratt jumped right into the fold in North America after he was drafted, and quickly rose through the Devils’ ranks and is now one of their top players.
Gritsyuk instead remained in Russia, and continued to develop his game in the KHL.
He has since won a Gagarin Cup—the KHLs Stanley Cup—with Avangard Omsk, and has since established himself as an offensive threat with SKA St. Petersburg.
Gritsyuk missed some time this season due to a knee injury. However, he’s back as a full participant with St. Petersburg as they push to make the KHL playoffs.
In 44 games this season, Gritsyuk was well on his way to a career-high in goals and points, collecting 16 and 37 respectively before he was sidelined. He’s still on pace to surpass his previous career high in points, scoring at a 42-point pace with six games left on SKAs schedule.
A previous report suggested the Devils might face a delay in receiving their top forward prospect.
However, we’ve seen instances when KHL players come over earlier than anticipated. See Matvei Michkov and the Philadelphia Flyers.
One thing is for sure, the Devils could certainly use an offensive boost. Will Gritsyuk’s game translate to the NHL? And will he be able to maintain the scoring pace in the top hockey league in the world?
The smaller ice in North America may actually be a benefit to the shifty, undersized forward. However, he’ll need to prove he can hack it with the best defenders in the world.
Fitzgerald was adamant that the goal for New Jersey is to make the playoffs. They’ll need all the offense they can get, especially after losing Jack Hughes.
Gritsyuk is anticipated to be a positive offensive boost for New Jersey once he finally arrives. We’ll see if Fitzgerald can pull a rabbit out of a hat and get him over here sooner than later.
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