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Arseni Gritsyuk

Devils Sign Arseni Gritsyuk To Entry-Level Deal

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May 6: The team confirmed a one-year deal for Gritsyuk today. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

April 9: The Devils are expected to land 2019 fifth-round pick Arseni Gritsyuk out of Russia on an entry-level deal for the 2025-26 season, Daria Tuboltseva of Responsible Gambler reports. The 24-year-old winger remains under contract with Kontinental Hockey League club SKA St. Petersburg through May 31, so an official announcement could still be weeks away.

While closer in theory to a free-agent pickup than a prospect arrival, he’s still on the right side of 25 and tracks as an impactful addition to the New Jersey roster next year. The 6’0″, 194-lb right winger has quite the resume in his home country. He had a breakout year with Avangard Omsk in 2021-22, winning the KHL’s Rookie of the Year Award with 16-12–28 in just 39 games. That was enough for him to be included on the country’s roster for the 2022 Winter Olympics, where he posted three points in six games en route to a silver medal.

Gritsyuk transferred to SKA in the 2023 off-season and has spent the last two seasons there. He saved his best for last. If not for an injury that sidelined him for about a third of the year, he would have led St. Petersburg in scoring. He did lead the team with a +22 rating and recorded 17-27–44 in 49 games. His 0.90 points per game ranked 12th in the KHL among qualified skaters. Gritsyuk also added five points in six playoff games as SKA dropped their first-round series to Dynamo Moscow.

His pending departure adds to a mass exodus from one of Russia’s largest clubs. Their leading scorer, 19-year-old Ivan Demidov, has already terminated his contract and is on his way to Montreal to join the Canadiens for the remainder of the season. They’ve also mutually terminated their deal with ex-Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov and are widely expected to lose top defenseman and captain Alexander Nikishin to the Hurricanes, who drafted him 69th overall in 2020 – although whether that deal gets done in time for him to join Carolina this season remains to be seen.

As for New Jersey, they’re likely penciling Gritsyuk into a top-nine right-wing spot for opening night in October. It’s realistic to expect output in the 40-to-50-point range from the smooth-skating winger next season, potentially even higher if he’s given first-unit power play deployment. He should be a crucial cost-effective contributor for the Devils as they enter the 2025 offseason with under $14MM in cap space for next season and star defenseman Luke Hughes in need of a new deal.

Gritsyuk will pause his KHL career after recording 68-84–152 in 216 regular-season games over the past five seasons. He’ll be a restricted free agent next summer and the Devils maintain team control over his signing rights through 2028.

Morning Notes: Gritsyuk, Jiříček, Front Office App

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Devils prospect Arseni Gritsyuk is on an expiring deal with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League. His contract remains in effect through May 31, however, and James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now reports the team’s efforts to get him over to North America before that date appear futile. SKA remains intent on keeping Gritsyuk through the end of his deal despite general manager Tom Fitzgerald’s post-deadline statement that they wanted to get him over to New Jersey down the stretch to “show us what he can do.” The No. 3 prospect in the Devils’ system (per McKeen’s Hockey), the 24-year-old right winger has 17-26–43 in 48 games with SKA, on pace for a career-high if not for a knee injury that cost him a decent chunk of the campaign. A 2019 fifth-round pick, he has 68-83–151 in 215 career KHL games across five seasons.

Other items from around the NHL today:

  • Wild prospect David Jiříček has now been scratched nine straight games since being recalled from AHL Iowa on March 1. The 21-year-old told The Athletic’s Joe Smith this week that while he’s eager to get back into game action, he’s enjoying having development time in NHL practices compared to skating for AHL Iowa, which has a sparse schedule this month. “I skated with [Jonas Brodin] and had some practices with [Marc-André Fleury]. For me, that’s always like a dream, you know? He’s a Hall of Famer. To shoot on him, it’s always a blessing. It’s actually a pretty good situation for me.” Selected sixth overall by the Blue Jackets in 2022 and acquired by the Wild in November, the righty has a goal and an assist while averaging 13:02 in six NHL appearances for Minnesota since the swap.
  • The NHL has finally created an app comparable to sites like PuckPedia, CapWages, and the now-defunct CapFriendly – but they’re keeping it in-house. Stephen Whyno of the AP reports the league has launched an iPad app, developed by SAP, for use only by teams’ front offices that “modernizes the league’s roster, contract and salary cap information.” Instead of having to coalesce with the league’s Central Registry and keep track of official contract information on a team-by-team basis, NHL GMs will now have private access to every team’s active roster size, salary cap room, injured reserve statuses, and no-move and no-trade clauses in players’ contracts.

Metropolitan Notes: Gudbranson, Gritsyuk, Stillman

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Columbus wasn’t overly active as expected leading into Friday’s trade deadline but they’re close to getting an addition on the back end.  Jeff Svoboda of the Blue Jackets’ team site relays (Twitter link) that defenseman Erik Gudbranson has been fully cleared to practice.  While that means he’s still probably at least a few days away from returning, his looming return will be a welcome one.  Gudbranson has been out since suffering a shoulder injury in the third game of the season back in October.  He was originally expected to be out until sometime in April but instead, it appears that he’ll be available to return several weeks ahead of schedule, effectively serving as a deadline addition.  Once he’s activated in the coming days, Columbus will have nine blueliners on its active roster.

More from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Speaking to reporters yesterday at his post-deadline press conference, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald told reporters including James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now that he’s actively trying to sign Russian forward Arseni Gritsyuk. The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick in 2019 but has become a productive forward in the KHL, notching 38 points in 45 games this season while also missing time due to a knee injury.  His deal expires on June 1st but if his club team – SKA St. Petersburg – were to release him before then at the conclusion of their regular season and playoffs, he’d be free to sign with New Jersey before then.  If that were to happen early enough, Gritsyuk could conceivably burn a year of his contract right away and potentially suit up in the playoffs for the Devils.
  • After assigning him to the minors yesterday upon clearing waivers, the Hurricanes announced that they’ve once again recalled Riley Stillman from AHL Chicago. Despite being promoted on numerous occasions, the 26-year-old has only played in three NHL games this season along with 20 outings with the Wolves where he has five points.  Stillman is likely to continue to serve as a depth defender but with recall limits now in effect, it’s unlikely he’ll be shuffled down daily as he was earlier this season.  Accordingly, while yesterday’s demotion keeps him playoff-eligible in the minors, he’ll probably have to pass through waivers again later to get back down there as he’s likely to remain on Carolina’s roster for 30 days, the threshold in which he’ll become waiver-eligible again.

Arseni Gritsyuk To Remain In KHL

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Over the past couple of days, one of the major news items was that forward Matvei Michkov is intent on terminating his contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL to begin his career with the Philadelphia Flyers organization. The same will not be true for Michkov’s teammate, Arseni Gritsyuk, who will remain with SKA St. Petersburg for the 2024-25 KHL season, instead of signing on with his draft team, the New Jersey Devils.

In an article published by James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now, the agent of Gritsyuk, Shumi Babev stated, “Gritsyuk will stay in SKA for sure. If nothing’s gonna be changed, [he] will join [New Jersey] in the next season”. Unlike Michkov, Gritsyuk’s contract is set to end after the 2024-25 season, indicating that he is resolute on honoring that agreement before taking his talents overseas.

Drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Draft at 129th overall by the Devils organization, Gritsyuk’s slow start to his professional career coupled with his desire to stay in his native Russia for the time being caused him to fall quite a bit down the draft board. Over the last two years in the KHL, Gritsyuk has played for both Avangard Omsk and SKA, scoring 34 goals and 78 points over his last 116 games.

This commitment made by Gritsyuk to St. Petersburg may represent a mutually beneficial option for both himself and New Jersey. Gritsyuk will be able to hone his talents in a comfortable environment, while the Devils can allow him to grow before rushing him too quickly to North America.

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