The New Jersey Devils have a lot on their plate this offseason, but weirdly, there aren’t a lot of decisions the Devils can make right now. Nico Hischier’s contract can’t officially be negotiated and signed until July 1st. The Devils don’t really have any unrestricted free agents of note. Nobody is doing trades right now, and the NHL Draft is still a few weeks away.
Sunny Mehta has been busy, cleaning up the front office and working on the coaching staff with Sheldon Keefe, whom he decided to keep in seat for at least one more season.
There are two decisions that Mehta can make right now that would be considered big wins, and they have to do with restricted free agency. Both Simon Nemec and Arseny Gritsyuk played under the final year of their entry-level contract last season, and they are both due significant raises.
Nemec has been in the headlines for most of this offseason due to his misreported trade demand, but that just got the situation into the conversation. It was always a possibility that he was going to be traded. He’s expected to get a top-flight contract as a former second-overall pick, and most believe he hasn’t earned that type of a payday.
Meanwhile, Gritsyuk is a player who has as close to a total positive review from the fanbase, his teammates, and management as possible. There is not one Devils’ fan who would be happy if he was included in a trade, including one for a clear upgrade like Dylan Larkin or Robert Thomas. The Devils should keep Gritsyuk, and it sounds like they are getting closer to that reality.
The New Jersey Devils have had positive conversations about Arseny Gritsyuk's next contract
Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News spoke with Gritsyuk’s agent, Shumi Babaev, over the weekend to discuss everything about the Russian forward. They discussed his negotiations with new Devils GM Sunny Mehta, and it sounds like the team is going in the right direction.
During the conversation, Babaev told Flannery that he is in “constant communication” with the Devils and that negotiations are “positive.” In fact, his exact words were: “We have a positive assessment of the negotiations.”
That’s obviously good news. If the agent and his team are willing to say publicly they have a “positive assessment” of the negotiations, then we should believe them.
On top of the good news we got from Gritsyuk’s contract, we also got a health update. Many might forget that Gritsyuk’s season ended with an injury. He got shoulder surgery that ended his season in March.
During the interview, Babaev gave Flannery a timeline for when Gritsyuk is expected to be fully cleared for hockey activities, and we’re not that far away. It sounds like we’re about a month away from Gritsyuk’s shoulder to be considered fully healed. The 25-year-old is preparing for his second season in the NHL, and it’s important to come into his second training camp ready to go.
With him being fully healthy by August, Gritsyuk should be ready to build on his rookie season.
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