Updates on Hischier, Gritsyuk From Devils GM Sunny Mehta
According to Devils General Manager Sunny Mehta, the Devils should feel encouraged about two key players regarding their futures in New Jersey.
Mehta, at a season ticket holder Q&A event, was asked for an update on the status of both Nico Hischier and Arseny Gritsyuk and where their extensions were at between both the team and player camps. He established that he is ‘pretty encouraged by developments on both those fronts.’
First off, Hischier, as previously understood by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, was in the right direction regarding the extension of the Devils’ former No. 1 overall pick from the 2017 NHL Draft. While he was competing in and for his home country of Switzerland at the 2026 IIHF World Championships, his agent, Allain Roy, made a pit stop to meet with the Devils’ new general manager about Hischier and his future in red and black.
Mehta, who had been with New Jersey as their Director of Analytics when the Devils drafted Hischier, revealed he’s spoken with his agent and Hischier himself multiple times in his short tenure as GM since LeBrun’s rumblings. The 27-year-old has a year left on his current contract, which was a seven-year deal signed back in 2020-21, and will ultimately add up to $50.75MM ($7.25MM AAV) in earnings at the end of this upcoming season. He finished last year scoring 28 goals for 66 points in his first 82-game season since his rookie campaign in 2017. Playing 400 games total on this particular contract, he’s amassed 353 points and has seen two playoff runs in 2023 and 2025, adding 11 points in 17 postseason games.
On the subject of Gritsyuk, from a report by James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now, both sides are progressing towards a multi-year extension, which, in the case of the rookie, is what his camp prefers.
The 25-year-old Russian finished his first NHL season, giving New Jersey the depth scoring it needed. His 13 goals for 31 points in 66 games nearly produced a half a point per game pace. He was first on the entire 2025-26 Devils roster in cost-per-point, averaging $30K for every tally on the scoresheet, and ended up fourth on the team in relative expected goals for%.
Gritsyuk ideally wants more than two years on his second NHL contract, which comes quickly after his first North American deal as a one-year, entry-level contract paying $925K. The Devils’ forward group has an intriguing future outlook, with mainstay players like Timo Meier, Jack Hughes, and Jesper Bratt all inked to long-term deals through 2031. However, Hischier is a part of six out of the remaining eight forward contracts listed that all end in 2027-28 (aside from Connor Brown, whose $3MM cap hit goes until 2030, and Lenni Hameenaho, a 21-year-old, who has two years on his entry-level contract at $972.5K a season).
If Mehta’s encouragement leads to multi-year extensions for both Hischier and Gritsyuk, it would be a huge step forward for the new GM as he enters his first offseason behind the wheel in New Jersey. The Devils hold around $10.9M in cap space this offseason and have around $46MM in cap space to work with on the average salary of Hischier’s new contract, which would kick in next summer before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Afternoon Notes: Hischier, Gasseau, Daley Jr.
General Manager Sunny Mehta will have his hands full with the New Jersey Devils, primarily by finding a trade partner for defenseman Dougie Hamilton and making a decision on defenseman Simon Nemec‘s future. Still, there’s another negotiation that will help define the Devils’ offseason.
According to Todd Cordell of Infernal Access, Mehta and the rest of the front office have already begun prioritizing a Nico Hischier extension this summer. New Jersey’s captain is entering the final season of a seven-year, $50.75MM extension and has been the subject of some trade speculation as we approach the offseason.
That might be why the Devils are pushing for an extension sooner rather than later. If negotiations sour, New Jersey could make Hischier available on the trade market, and he could be of supreme value for teams that miss out on Dylan Larkin this summer. Hischier registered 28 goals and 66 points in 82 games for New Jersey this season, and he only has a 10-team no-trade list in his contract.
Additional afternoon notes:
- In an interview at the NHL Draft Combine, General Manager of the Boston Bruins, Don Sweeney, confirmed to Jim McBride of The Boston Globe that the team would likely trade forward Andre Gasseau this summer, or allow him to become an unrestricted free agent in August. Gasseau, 22, recently wrapped up his senior season with the NCAA’s Boston College Eagles, scoring six goals and 23 points in 23 games, but lost multiple games due to wrist surgery. The former seventh-round pick wants NHL ice time immediately, and the Bruins are unwilling to do that.
- According to Jeff Marek of The Sheet, Trevor Daley Jr., son of veteran Trevor Daley, is leaving the United States National Team Development Program for the OHL. Daley Jr. will join the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds for the 2026-27 season after registering one assist in four games for the NTDP this past season.
Update On Nico Hischier, Future With Devils
New Jersey and its captain’s camp have initiated a conversation.
That conversation, as understood by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, is so far in the right direction regarding the extension of the Devils’ former No. 1 overall pick from the 2017 NHL Draft. While Nico Hischier is across the pond competing in and for his home country of Switzerland at the 2026 IIHF World Championships, his agent, Allain Roy, made a pit stop to meet with the Devils’ new general manager, Sunny Metha, about Hischier and his future in red and black.
To LeBrun’s understanding, the talks were positive between both sides in their initiation. But it would be beneficial for the Devils to sign their top-line center to a long-term deal before the 2026-27 season. Doing this would ensure Metha and the front office some clear headspace to address the team’s goals to get back to the playoffs and contend. That can be done so long as the new GM can find a number that works for both sides, in the sense that Hischier can be paid handsomely for his services, and the Devils have wiggle room to operate on other areas of the roster.
Although this situation is in its initial stage, that doesn’t mean that other NHL teams have their backs turned with what’s going on in Newark. LeBrun, in his writings, referred to many teams as potential suitors who would benefit from Hischier; The Los Angeles Kings, who lost longtime legend Anze Kopitar to retirement, the Montreal Canadiens, having Hischier as a second center to round out the team’s top-six, the Minnesota Wild, who are also in need of men down the middle, plus around half the league if the Swiss star was made available.
But he isn’t at the moment, so the focus remains on New Jersey alone.
The 27-year-old has a year left on his current contract, which was a seven-year deal that will ultimately add up to $50.75MM ($7.25MM AAV) in earnings at the end of this upcoming season. He ended last year scoring 28 goals for 66 points in his first 82-game season since his rookie campaign in 2017. Playing 400 games total on this particular contract, he’s amassed 353 points and has seen two playoff runs in 2023 and 2025, adding 11 points in 17 postseason games.
Those two playoff appearances came in the last four years, so New Jersey has elevated itself as a team that can make the dance. However, if they want to contend on a year-to-year basis, locking Hischier in would be a great first step, one that Metha would ideally like to have in place this summer before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next year in 2027.
The NHL cap is projected to rise again to what is speculated to be $113.5MM when Hischier will have his next deal in place, per Puckpedia. New Jersey, with the already rising cap, has around just $11.8MM to work with on its current free agent outlook. They need to address forwards Evgenii Dadonov, Zack MacEwen, and defenseman Dennis Cholowski before they hit the open market and have restricted free agents in forwards Arseny Gritsyuk, Paul Cotter, and former second-overall pick, Simon Nemec on the backend.
The Devils have won 42 games in each of the past two years under Sheldon Keefe as head coach. In 2024-25, that granted them a spot in the postseason, this year, it was enough to get the 12th overall selection in the 2026 NHL Draft. If Metha wants to push the needle further towards contention for New Jersey, utilizing that draft pick in either fashion to select a top prospect that could develop into a low-cost, high-reward player or trading the pick for a win-now player could prove worthwhile based on the decision made there.
Regardless, extending the captain seems to be where the signs are pointing. For a player, among Devils since the start of the 2020’s, to score at a 0.88 points per game pace (3rd on NJ), hold a +21 rating (2nd on NJ), win 54.9% of all faceoffs (2nd on NJD), and to be one of three players to score over 300 points up to today (1st. Jesper Bratt, 418 points and 2nd. Jack Hughes, 407 points), that’s an integral peice towards the ultimate goal.
Timo Meier Has Been A Massive Disappointment For The Devils
When the New Jersey Devils acquired forward Timo Meier in 2023, they hoped to land a power forward who could reshape their top six and provide 40 goals a season. At the time, Meier looked like that player, and New Jersey gave up assets to the San Jose Sharks, believing he would become a core member and ride shotgun alongside Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. In addition to trading away significant assets, the Devils committed financially to Meier long-term with an eight-year contract worth $70.4MM ($8.8MM annually). The results weren’t great to start. Meier had just 14 points in his first 21 games with the Devils and just four points (two goals and two assists) in 11 playoff games. Now, just three years into that contract, Meier has been less of a top-end power forward and more of a streaky depth scorer who struggles with turnovers.
New Jersey has been a major disappointment over the past two seasons. While Meier has been relatively consistent, he hasn’t lived up to the expectations when he was brought in and signed long-term. In the five years prior to the trade, Meier had topped 30 goals three times and had become a 65-75-point player. Since the trade, he’s been a 25-goal scorer and a 50-point player. These numbers, while respectable, aren’t what the Devils were hoping for when they made the moves.
The Devils obviously want to get back to the playoffs with their current roster, but many of their top-paid players have struggled to live up to their price tags. Meier is hardly alone in his struggles, but he just finished fourth in Devils scoring, despite being the highest-paid forward.
Now, you could point to some of the injuries and to the inconsistency hampering Meier’s production, but the cause is likely much deeper and involves both individual and team issues.
For Meier, he simply has not elevated his play since the trade to New Jersey and has not been as physically imposing as he was with the Sharks. Many predicted that Meier would become the Devils’ net-front presence and use his size to score many goals in front of the net, but Meier hasn’t become that player despite playing through his prime over the past few years.
Meier also hasn’t built chemistry with his teammates or settled into his role. Some of that can be blamed on his lack of momentum on his own, but there have also been lineup and coaching changes, along with other external factors that could be keeping Meier from getting comfortable with the Devils.
While Meier’s offensive numbers have been respectable, perhaps the most troubling aspect of his game is on the defensive side, where he lacks attention to detail in his own end and is often guilty of turning the puck over. These warts in his game would be forgivable if Meier were producing more offense, but unfortunately for New Jersey, that has not been the case.
Meier was brought in to help change the Devils’ trajectory, but, unfortunately for New Jersey, it appears the trajectory has gone the other way, which, given the talent on the roster, seems to be a shock to most people. It’s hard to label Meier a disaster, but when compared to the costs to acquire and retain him, there is little doubt that the Devils would love to have both the trade and the contract back as a do-over, and it’s likely a series of moves they wouldn’t repeat.
At this point, it’s unlikely that Meier takes the next steps that the Devils were hoping he would take when they acquired him. And with the failed trade, among other failed moves, New Jersey has brought in a new management group, and it should be interesting to see how they assess the fit with Meier and whether or not they see him as a long-term fixture. There could be an interesting dynamic with a new GM and management team: a possible trade, or they could see him in a different role with the Devils. Back with San Jose, Meier was often a focal point of the Sharks’ offense; however, in New Jersey, that is less often the case, as the Devils have better forward depth and more offensive players than the Sharks did 3-4 years ago.
There is also the possibility that Meier re-captures his offensive game this year after a tumultuous season off the ice last year. Meier took a personal leave of absence mid-season after posting 10 goals and 12 assists in his first 26 games (a 70-point pace). After returning from his leave, Meier tallied eight goals and three assists in 34 games, roughly a 26-point pace over a full season. Curiously, Meier’s shooting percentage dropped from 11.9% in those first 26 games to 5.9% in the 34 games following his return. There are many reasons that could happen (bad luck, for one), but it’s hard to imagine him shooting that poorly over another stretch of play.
With a new management group in place and five years left on his contract, it will take some time before Meier’s fate is ultimately decided. For now, given his contract status, it’s hard to imagine the Devils moving him to another team. But this summer could be one of urgency in New Jersey, with Hischier’s contract entering its final season and a lot of disappointment surrounding the team. What that means for Meier remains to be seen, but if he does become a trade chip, he would be a buy-low candidate who should generate some interest among teams looking for help in their top six.
Metropolitan Notes: Hischier, Glass, Ritchie, Cizikas, Fehervary
Already without their top center, Jack Hughes, tonight against Ottawa due to a lower-body injury, the Devils could also find themselves missing their captain. The team listed Nico Hischier as a game-time decision due to illness. Hischier is New Jersey’s top scorer this season, notching 18 goals and 23 assists in 54 games. He’s also averaging a career high in playing time (20:53 per game) and is winning more than 55% of his faceoffs for the third straight season. The Devils are already on the outside looking in at a playoff spot in the tight Eastern Conference and missing their top two pivots against a team they’re battling to stay ahead of in the race for the postseason would certainly be a big blow.
More from the Metropolitan:
- There is some good news on the injury front for the Devils, at least. From that same listing, Cody Glass will return to the lineup tonight after missing Thursday’s contest due to an undisclosed injury. The 26-year-old is in his first full season with New Jersey after being acquired before last year’s trade deadline and has given the Devils some decent depth scoring, chipping in with 13 goals in 42 games.
- Islanders winger Calum Ritchie has been shut down until after the Olympic break, relays Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News. The rookie is dealing with a lower-body injury sustained last weekend and tried to skate on his own on Friday but wasn’t doing well enough to realistically be considered as an option to return over the next few days. Ritchie has been eased into his first full season of NHL action and has seven goals and eight assists in 40 games this season while averaging a little over 12 minutes per night.
- Still with the Islanders, the team announced that veteran Casey Cizikas will return to the lineup tonight against Nashville after missing Thursday’s contest due to illness. The 34-year-old has 14 points and 108 hits in 53 games this season but his playing time has dropped to 11:34 per game, his lowest since the 2012-13 campaign. Cizikas will take Max Shabanov’s place in the lineup tonight.
- The Capitals announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Martin Fehervary will miss today’s game against Carolina for personal reasons. The 26-year-old was the only Washington blueliner to play in every game, a run that will now come to an end. Through 55 games this season, Fehervary has 19 points and 115 blocks while averaging 19 minutes of playing time.
Devils Notes: Allen, Trades, Hischier
New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald laid out many of the team’s off-season priorities to NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. He emphasized that re-signing defenseman Luke Hughes was a top priority, but then went on to add that the Devils will also make an effort to bring back backup goaltender Jake Allen. Fitzgerald said that Allen was one of the better goaltenders on the market, and that Allen’s camp has expressed a desire to stay in New Jersey.
Allen, 34, is coming off a two-year, $7.7MM contract signed with New Jersey in 2023. He was certainly a stout backup on that deal, landing a .904 save percentage and 19-22-2 record across 44 games. The bulk of those appearances – 31 to be exact – came behind Jacob Markstrom this season. Allen posted a 13-16-1 record and .908 save percentage on the year, but came up big for the Devils one more than one occasion. He’s a one-time Stanley Cup champion, and could be had for a cheap price on a deal that may carry him to retirement.
Other notes surrounding the Devils:
- The Devils are entering the summer with just $12MM in available cap space, and could reason to spend nearly two-thirds of that on extending Hughes. That puts the team in a challenging spot when it comes to re-signing someone like Allen or Cody Glass. Fitzgerald shared he’s aware of the bind, and knows that the team will need to use strategic spending and trades to improve up the roster. The Devils don’t wield a first-round pick this year, but do have two second-round picks, and a well-built prospect pool. Trimming from either surplus could go far in landing New Jersey a stout addition, or helping them clear the cap space to make more moves.
- Fitzgerald closed by shedding light on Devils captain Nico Hischier, who suffered a lower-body injury while at the World Championship. The GM said that Hischier’s removal from the tournament was precautionary, and that Hischier is back to training per usual. That’s great news for the 26-year-old, who posted 69 points in 75 games on the season. He also scored a career-high 35 goals, trumping his previous high of 31 goals from 2022-23. With good health, Hischier will be headed straight back to a starring role next season.
World Championship Notes: Hischier, Reichel, Hertl, Lauko
Switzerland will be without one of their top players for the rest of the World Championship as Devils team reporter Amanda Stein relays (Twitter link) that Nico Hischier has been ruled out due to a muscular injury. He picked up two goals and an assist in four outings before suffering the injury, one that’s not believed to be a long-term concern and that his sitting for the rest of the event is largely precautionary. Hischier had a career-high 35 goals this season in New Jersey along with 34 assists in 75 games while logging over 20 minutes a night for the first time in his eight-year NHL career.
More from the Worlds:
- Germany winger Lukas Reichel won’t play in the rest of the event due to an injury sustained on Tuesday, reports Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (subscription link). It’s expected he’ll need more time beyond that to recover but he is expected to get close to a full offseason of training in. The 23-year-old is coming off a disappointing season with the Blackhawks, one that saw him record just eight goals and 14 assists in 70 games while seeing his playing time drop below 11 minutes per game.
- Czechia won’t be getting one of their top players for a late-tournament addition. Hokej.cz’s Jakub Ruc relays that Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl did not receive medical clearance from the team to permit him to play the final few games of the event. Hertl suffered an upper-body injury late in the regular season and it’s unclear if that’s the injury that will hold him out or if it was something different altogether. After putting up 32 goals and 29 assists in 73 games this season, Hertl certainly would have been a big addition for the Czechs heading into the medal round.
- Also from Ruc, winger Jakub Lauko is dealing with a jaw injury that will keep him out of the lineup for the time being but he is expected to be back before the end of the tournament. The pending restricted free agent was acquired by the Bruins near the trade deadline for his second stint with the team and had five goals and six assists in 56 games between Boston and Minnesota this season.
New Jersey Devils Activate Nico Hischier
New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier will play his first game in approximately a month. New Jersey has officially activated their eight-year center ahead of tonight’s contest against the Dallas Stars.
Hischier’s activation was expected given he’s been regularly skating for the past few weeks. Thanks to the two-week 4 Nations Face-Off break, Hischier only missed six games due to the oblique injury. The Devils managed a 3-3-0 record in his absence.
The Brig, Switzerland native was on pace for the second-best offensive season of his career and likely still could. Hischier scored 24 goals and 43 points in 51 games leading up to the injury, which puts him 24 points behind his 67-point output in 71 games last year. Still, thanks to his hot streak to start the 2024-25 campaign, it is likely Hischier will surpass his career-high of 31 goals in a single season.
Despite a healthy forward core, New Jersey will still be shorthanded this evening. Netminder Jacob Markström and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler continue to recover from their knee and lower-body injuries respectively. Those injuries shouldn’t create an insurmountable hurdle for the Devils to overcome.
Even without their top goaltender, New Jersey has averaged 2.28 goals-against per game while maintaining their plus-3.00 goals-for average. Being efficient in the faceoff dot, displaying above-average possession metrics, and scoring nearly every other game this season, Hischier should help the Devils improve in both categories even further.
Devils Place Jacob Markstrom, Jonas Siegenthaler On IR
The New Jersey Devils have made a flurry of move with the hockey world’s attention turning back towards NHL rosters. Most notably, the team has placed starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom (knee) and top-four defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler (lower-body) on injured reserve. Markstrom has missed New Jersey’s last seven games after suffering an MCL sprain in New Jersey’s win over Boston on January 22nd. He was announced as out four-to-six weeks at the time of his injury. Markstrom has posted a dazzling 21-9-5 record and .912 save percentage in 36 appearances this year. His starting role has been filled by veteran Jake Allen, who also has a .912 save percentage but just a 9-11-1 record in 21 games.
Siegenthaler’s injury is less clear. He left New Jersey’s February 7th game against the Pittsburgh Penguins after taking an awkward hit from Anthony Beauvillier. Siegenthaler missed New Jersey’s last two games. He is expected to miss an additional two-to-three weeks after undergoing a procedure to address his injury during the 4-Nations break, per head coach Sheldon Keefe. Siegenthaler has been one of New Jersey’s top defenders this season. He has just nine points in 55 games, but formed a strong pairing with Johnathan Kovacevic.
In corresponding moves, New Jersey also recalled defensemen Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey, and goaltender Tyler Brennan, to join the team’s Tuesday practice. The pair of defenders stand as perhaps New Jersey’s top two prospects. Nemec and Casey lead the Utica Comets’ blue-line in scoring, with 23 points in 34 games and 15 points in 22 games respectively. Meanwhile, Brennan has spent his last two seasons with the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder. He’s begun vying for the starting role this year, leading all Thunder netminders with 22 games played and posting a 6-14-2 record and .870 save percentage. Brennan likely won’t stick with the roster when games start back up, but one of Casey or Nemec could hold onto a spot depending on how long Siegenthaler misses.
New Jersey has utilized 22 of 23 roster slots with both defense prospects up. That final roster spot could soon be taken up by captain Nico Hischier‘s return. Keefe told NHL.com that Hischier didn’t seem to be dealing with any sort of discomfort in New Jersey’s first day back, though he’ll need to be approved by doctors before he can return. Hischier added that he felt like his break, and Tuesday’s practice, both went well. The top Swiss has missed New Jersey’s last six games with an oblique injury after taking a cross-check to the ribs in the Devils’ January 25th win over the Boston Bruins. He’s been one of New Jersey’s top forwards when healthy, with 24 goals and 43 points in 51 games. Hischier will immediately return to a top-line role, should he be healthy enough to play this weekend.
Devils Place Nico Hischier On IR, Recall Simon Nemec
The Devils announced today that captain Nico Hischier is headed for injured reserve after missing the last four contests with an upper-body injury. Top defense prospect Simon Nemec was called up from AHL Utica in the corresponding move and will enter the lineup tonight against the Golden Knights in place of Jonas Siegenthaler, who left Tuesday’s game against the Penguins with an apparent leg/ankle injury after falling awkwardly in the neutral zone.
Hischier sustained the injury on a cross-check/slash from Montreal captain Nick Suzuki, leading to his first absence of the season. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters last week that Hischier is out week-to-week, so while he’s eligible to come off IR at any time, he’s still not expected back for their final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off against the Canadiens on Saturday.
He remains the team’s goal leader despite missing time, with 24 in 51 games. He’s also added 19 assists for 43 points, ranking fourth on the team with a +11 rating and leading them with a 55.5 FO%. Dawson Mercer briefly shifted from wing to center for the first few games of his absence but was replaced down the middle by Erik Haula for Tuesday’s game after the veteran was cleared to return from an ankle sprain.
After making New Jersey’s opening-night roster, Nemec gets another chance in the NHL. He recorded an assist and a minus-two rating in nine games before a string of healthy scratches and an eventual reassignment to Utica in early November. The 2022 second-overall pick has 5-17–22 in 32 AHL games since his demotion, the best offensive showing of his three-minor league campaigns.
His recall comes after he expressed frustration about his extended AHL assignment to a media outlet in his native Slovakia last month. However, he said he hadn’t requested a trade out of Newark, and the Devils haven’t yet appeared willing to leverage him in a trade.
Someone will be playing on their offside tonight against Vegas, as Nemec gives them four righties and two lefties on the blue line. Johnathan Kovacevic is the only one of the former group to spend significant time on the left this season, per CapWages, so he’ll likely replace Siegenthaler in top-pairing duties alongside Dougie Hamilton while Nemec enters the lineup alongside either Brenden Dillon or Luke Hughes.