The New Jersey Devils concluded their preseason with a 3-2-2 record, wrapping up with a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on October 4. Despite the defeat, several notable storylines emerged from the team’s seven-game slate, many of which will carry into the regular season.
Perhaps the most intriguing development came from a pairing that skated on the first line against the Flyers but will likely serve as the fourth line once the regular season begins.
Saturday’s lineup featured:
Cotter – Glendening – Gritsyuk
Lachance – Rooney – Hameenaho
Hardman – Malone – Parent
Gruden – Melovsky – Légaré
Cholowski – Addison
Edwards – Strand
Vilen – Diotte
Allen, Romanov
Among those players, Arseny Gritsyuk and Paul Cotter stood out as a duo to watch.
They might not be “PB&J”—Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes—but Gritsyuk and Cotter have shown strong chemistry throughout the preseason.
Cotter, 25, is already familiar to Devils fans. He played 79 games for New Jersey last season, tallying 16 goals and six assists for 22 points. A 2018 draft pick, he entered the league just one year before Gritsyuk was selected.
Gritsyuk, meanwhile, made his long-awaited debut this fall after several successful seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The Russian winger lived up to the anticipation, leading the Devils in preseason scoring with five points (two goals, three assists) in six games.
Cotter wasn’t far behind, recording four points (three goals, one assist) with all three of his goals assisted by Gritsyuk.
The connection between the two has quickly become one of the team’s most promising storylines.
In an October 2 interview with NJ Devils TV, Cotter spoke highly of his new linemate:
“He’s going to be such an amazing player in this league. I mean, just his everyday approach, his positivity,” Cotter said. “It makes the game fun. It’s fun to play with a guy who has that ability to learn but also has confidence in his skill — and he’s not afraid to use it. I mean, we’re the fourth line out there, but it doesn’t look like it with the way he’s making plays.”
The Gritsyuk–Cotter pairing is expected to be in the lineup when the Devils open their 2025–26 regular season on October 9 against the Carolina Hurricanes.