Arseny Gritsyuk rookie impact New Jersey Devils 2025-26: the steal of the draft igniting Newark

The New Jersey Devils’ injury ward has been fuller than Prudential Center on a playoff night, yet the club keeps humming along at 13-4-1. The biggest reason is a 24-year-old Russian who was never guaranteed a roster spot in September. Arseny Gritsyuk, the 2019 fifth-rounder who spent five seasons marinating in the KHL, has exploded into the 2025-26 campaign like he has been betting on himself every single day since draft night. Four goals, five helpers and a team-best 63.6 mph skating clip later, the Devils have found the Swiss-army forward they didn’t know they needed.

Arseny Gritsyuk rookie impact New Jersey Devils 2025-26: instant offense from the third line

Gritsyuk’s North-American arrival was never going to be a parade. He landed in a lineup missing Jack Hughes (eight-week hand surgery), Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler and, for stretches, Nico Hischier. Head coach Sheldon Keefe penciled him on the left wing of a defensively responsible third unit with Cody Glass and Ondrej Palat, asking for “safe minutes with a dash of pace.” The rookie delivered both, then added a pinch of game-breaking panache.

• First six games: 3 primary assists, 17 shots, 56.4 expected-goals share
• Next six games: 4 goals, 2 power-play markers, shootout winner vs. Washington
• Average ice time climb: 12:47 → 14:35 → career-high 20:39 in Chicago OT win

The chemistry with Glass has been particularly lethal. Natural Stat Trick shows Glass’ shots-for percentage jumps 27 % when he shares the ice with Gritsyuk, while Palat’s high-danger scoring chance rate spikes 60 %. “He just finds the soft ice, then attacks the hard ice,” Palat said after a 5-2 rout of Tampa. “I’ve played with fast guys; I’ve never played with a guy this fast and this patient.”

Arseny Gritsyuk rookie impact New Jersey Devils 2025-26: KHL polish meets NHL pace

Scouts who watched SKA St. Petersburg last winter raved about Gritsyuk’s postseason: 17-27—44 in 49 games, then 1-4—5 in six playoff tilts. The numbers, however, didn’t capture the foot-speed that forced KHL defenses to back off blue-lines or the relentless back-pressure that created turnovers in the neutral zone. New Jersey development coach Sergei Brylin spent two summers drilling him on North-American rink dimensions—shorter breakout distances, quicker rim-retrievals. The homework shows.

His first NHL goal, a top-shelf snipe on the power play versus Seattle, looked eerily like the SKA tape: curl inside the dot, freeze the goalie with a shoulder dip, pick the far corner. The difference is the margin for error. “In the KHL you get half a second,” Gritsyuk told The Hockey Writers. “Here you get half a half second. But when you’ve skated 200 pro games before you arrive, the game finally slows down.”

Arseny Gritsyuk rookie impact New Jersey Devils 2025-26: driving special teams and shootouts

Few rookies earn trust on both units; Gritsyuk is already QB’ing the second power-play group and killing penalties with Hischier. On the man advantage he rotates into the “Ovechkin spot,” freeing Luke Hughes to walk the line. Three of his nine points have come on the power play, including a primary helper that snapped the Rangers’ 12-game penalty-kill streak.

Shorthanded, his 63.6 mph burst (96th percentile league-wide per NHL Edge) turns routine clears into breakaway threats. Washington learned the hard way when Gritsyuk torched John Carlson to the outside, drew a slashing call and immediately scored on the ensuing PP. Keefe calls it “a 200-foot weapon we haven’t had since prime Blake Coleman.”

Arseny Gritsyuk rookie impact New Jersey Devils 2025-26: what the analytics scream through 18 games

Traditional counting stats are shiny, but the micro-stats tell the fuller story of a rookie who doesn’t need sheltering.

1. Shot attempt share (CF%) at 5-on-5: 54.1 % — 1st among NJ forwards >100 min
2. Expected goals share (xGF%): 56.3 % — 2nd on team behind Hischier
3. Zone-entry carry-in rate: 67 % — tops for Devils with 50+ entries
4. Takeaway per 60: 2.4 — equal to Jesper Bratt, best among rookies

Add in a 56 % face-off win rate when deployed on the fly (he never took draws in Russia) and you have a coach’s dream: a winger who can double-shift at center in an emergency, a luxury New Jersey desperately needs while Dawson Mercer nurses a lower-body issue.

Arseny Gritsyuk rookie impact New Jersey Devils 2025-26: inside the room – quotes & culture fit

Veterans noticed the rookie’s humility before his speed. He refused an “A” locker stall, choosing a corner cubby between Glass and rookie defenseman Seamus Casey. “I’m 24, but I’m still a first-year guy,” he said. His English, polished by three seasons of KHL post-game interviews, helps, yet he leans on fellow Russian Erik Haula for comic relief. After Gritsyuk roofed a shootout winner vs. the Caps, Haula joked, “We finally got a Russian who can finish,” a nod to past countrymen who struggled in Newark.

Keefe’s praise has grown louder each week. “He’s been really good, a really smart player… There’s a solid foundation there, and that’s so important for any player, but especially one coming into the League,” the coach said, echoing the same refrain he used for Simon Nemec’s breakout season with the 2025-26 New Jersey Devils—a reminder that New Jersey’s pipeline is gushing at both ends of the ice.

Arseny Gritsyuk rookie impact New Jersey Devils 2025-26: ceiling and contract chess

Gritsyuk signed a one-year, entry-level deal worth $925 k on May 7, burning the first year regardless of games played. The bet is already a win: prorated cap hit sits under $800 k for a top-nine driver who can moonlight in the top six. If he reaches 35 points—a 65-point pace across 82 games—New Jersey can extend him this summer with substantial, yet team-friendly, raise. Agent Dan Milstein hinted at a bridge structure similar to Yegor Sharangovich’s 2022 pact ($4 M AAV) if the point trajectory holds.

Long-term, the Devils envision a second line that ages together: Hischier (26), Bratt (27), Gritsyuk (25) through 2030. Add Nemec (22) on the blue line and the core rivals any Metropolitan contender, a far cry from the roster chaos that defined 2023-24.

Arseny Gritsyuk rookie impact New Jersey Devils 2025-26: what it means for the playoff push

New Jersey’s 13-4-1 start is no October mirage; it’s the product of next-man-up philosophy meeting elite development. Gritsyuk doesn’t replace Jack Hughes’ wizardry, but he widens the threat matrix, forcing match-up nightmares when the star center returns. Picture a top-nine that rolls Hughes-Meier-Mercer, Hischier-Bratt-Gritsyuk, Palat-Glass-Lazar. No soft minutes, no sheltering, just constant pressure.

The rookie’s health will be pivotal—he missed only four games across five KHL campaigns, a durability gene the Devils, perennially bitten by the injury bug, covet. If he maintains even a 50-point pace, New Jersey has the inside track on a Metropolitan banner and, perhaps, the conference crown that has eluded them since 2012.

Arseny Gritsyuk arrived as a curiosity, a fifth-round afterthought in a system bursting with first-round glitter. Two months into 2025-26 he is no longer a surprise—he is the accelerant keeping the Devils’ Cup window wedged wide open.