Head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that rookie Arseny Gritsyuk’s season has ended early after an injury required surgery.
“The nature of his injury is one that, if not addressed, is going to linger and potentially impact him,” Keefe told NJD.TV. “He has elected to have surgery just to get it repaired and get an early start to have as good of an offseason as he can, and most importantly, not have this be something that continuously pops up.”
Despite the early ending, the rookie had a strong outing in his first NHL season. To highlight his impact, here is a full list of the accomplishments for the 25-year-old in his first season with the New Jersey Devils.
Gritsyuk’s statistics reflect this: in 66 games, he totaled 31 points, scoring 13 goals and recording 18 assists.
Furthermore, Gritsyuk ranked 10th amongst all rookies in the NHL this season.
His season ended on March 24th in the Devils' matchup against the Dallas Stars, where Gritsyuk saw 16:22 minutes on the ice and tallied one assist.
The anticipation surrounding Gritsyuk’s debut was high. After several seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League, the team was eager to see how he would transition to North American hockey.
All in all, even though the season was cut short, it showed hope for the future.
The next question is whether Gritsyuk will stay with the team. General manager Tom Fitzgerald said discussions have begun between the two parties.
“He has been a joy to watch; he has added so much to our team,” Fitzgerald said to NJD.tv. “Absolutely, we see him long-term."
The Devils have seven games left in the 2025-26 regular season. The team will play again on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.
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