The New Devils have been dealing with injuries all season, and when you think things couldn't get any worse, they definitely do. It was announced today that Arseny Gritsyuk will not be available this weekend for both home games against the Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks. He had suffered an upper-body injury before the game against the Lightning and tried to play through it. It's easy to question why Gritsyuk wouldn't just sit out and prepare for the back-to-back games over the weekend. That now makes seven Devils players unavailable, including Jack Hughes, Brett Pesce, Zack Macewen, Evgenii Dadonov, Johnathan Kovacevic, Timo Meier, and Arseny Gritsyuk.
Arseny Gritsyuk did give Devils fans an update on his injury via Telegram, saying this: "Hello everyone, the sources have already started giving their insider information. Although I haven't been fully examined yet, I'm certain I'll miss the next two home games. I'm confident that everything will be fine with my health and our results. As they say, we'll come back stronger. Thank you all so much for your support and concern.
How much will the Devils miss Arseny Gritsyuk?
With the absence of both Timo Meier and now Arseny Gritsyuk, the Devils are thin at the forward position this weekend. It is unknown who will replace Gritsyuk on the third line. A possible option could be Xavier Parent, who just made his NHL debut against the Lightning.
If Parent is the one who gets bumped up to that line, then the left-wing position for the fourth line will remain a question mark until we get an update. Gritsyuk has had a good couple of games as of late, especially his three-point performance against the Ottawa Senators on the road. His presence will definitely be missed, not only during 5-on-5 play, but also on the power play as he was bumped up to the first unit alongside Bratt, Hischier, Noesen, and Nemec.
Although it's just his first season in the NHL, the russian rookie has been one of the bright spots for the Devils all season, recording 16 points in 31 games. Gritsyuk is the glue to the bottom six, so it will be interesting how they look this weekend in games that they absolutely need to win to get back on track.