New Jersey Devils assistant general manager Dan MacKinnon recently spoke with NHL.com [https://www.nhl.com/news/new-jersey-devils-top-prospects-for-2025-26-season-32-in-32]ahead of the 2025-26 season. With several players competing for roster spots, MacKinnon highlighted forward Arseniy Gritsyuk, who is expected to arrive in New Jersey this week. Gritsyuk was selected 129th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, the same year the Devils took Jack Hughes first overall. After several seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), the 24-year-old winger is now ready to compete for a spot in the NHL. Expectations are already high. Last season, Gritsyuk tallied 17 goals and 27 assists for 44 points in 49 games. He officially signed with the Devils in May and is confirmed to be traveling to North America. Ahead of his arrival, MacKinnon compared Gritsyuk’s path to another familiar case: “If you're looking for an NHL comparison, I look at Evgenii Dadonov, who came over early but it didn’t work. He went back to the KHL for several years and then came over the second time, which was more in line with the age Gritsyuk is now, and it went very well,” MacKinnon told NHL.com [https://www.nhl.com/news/new-jersey-devils-top-prospects-for-2025-26-season-32-in-32]. “We’re hoping the added time that Arseni took in the KHL means the first audition sticks.” For his part, Gritsyuk isn’t worried about where he’ll slot into the lineup. Speaking with Russian outlet TASS [https://tass.ru/interviews/24778303], he said: “I don’t have any favorite hockey players — you evaluate them from a professional point of view. I studied the team’s roster. Yes, there’s Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier — top-six center forwards. I’d like to join them, but we’ll see how ready I am.” He also praised the Devils’ two franchise centers, pointing out their contrasting styles: “Hughes skates well, Hischier is more of a two-way forward, and he can also fight in defense. It is clear that Hughes is a superstar, and the whole team is built around him to get results. So it will be harder with him in the line — you will have to do more work. But it makes no difference to me which of them I play with.” Both Gritsyuk and the Devils’ staff are eager to see how he transitions to the North American game. He will make his debut at training camp this month, giving fans their first real look at what he can bring to the ice.
