The New Jersey Devils are searching for help with the team's secondary scoring. After the likes of Stefan Noesen and Paul Cotter got cold (although the latter is heating up again), it became clear the Devils could use some offensive firepower to add to the lineup. While most are looking at the trade route to give the Devils a scoring edge, some were willing to be patient to wait on a certain Devils prospect to make the jump overseas.
Arseni Gritsyuk has been in the Devils organization since they drafted him in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Draft. The Devils have been monitoring his development for the past five years as he rose in the KHL ranks. This season, he has 13 goals and 17 assists for SKA St. Petersburg, one of the best teams in the league. He's fifth on the team in points and leads in goals despite playing the majority of his time on the third line with Sergei Andronov and Vladimir Alistrov.
While Devils fans are looking fondly at Gritsyuk's season and looking forward to his NHL debut, it appears that won't happen this season.
Believe KHL contract end dates have been extended to May 31, which makes it tougher to envision scenario Demidov can play this season. https://t.co/UEHzyHgrvJ
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 8, 2025
Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli references the extension of KHL contracts to reach through the end of May. He's actually talking about Montreal Canadiens prospect and Gritsyuk's teammate Ivan Demidov, but this impacts Gritsyuk as well.
New rule clarification will likely keep Arseni Gritsyuk away from the New Jersey Devils this season.
The Devils last game of the season is April 16th, about six weeks from the end of Gritsyuk's contract. The Devils would have to be steeped in the Eastern Conference Finals just to give Gritsyuk a chance to play in the U.S., but there's no way the Devils would throw a guy into such high stakes without any experience on North American ice.
There is good news in this story. Gritsyuk has said repeatedly that he plans to join the Devils organization at the end of his contract, which would be this offseason. That gives him a full offseason, training camp, and preseason to prepare for play in the NHL. If he needs it, he can even start off next season in the AHL. He's just 23 years old, so there's no rush getting him in the lineup, although with his skillset, it would be nice.