LW Arseniy Gritsyuk - SKA St.Petersburg, KHL (2019, 129th, NJD)

[Caser]

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

I wish he didn’t sign a 2 year extension. Could use him after Holtz inevitably gets traded.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Seems to be a reason he is still in Russia and not in New Jersey/Utica. While Lou Lamoriello was a key figure in bringing the first wave of players from the then-Soviet Union to the NHL, the current regime seems less willing to do so.

 

[Zine]

Seems to be a reason he is still in Russia and not in New Jersey/Utica. While Lou Lamoriello was a key figure in bringing the first wave of players from the then-Soviet Union to the NHL, the current regime seems less willing to do so.

Lamoriello bringing soviet-era players to North America is irrelevant. The global landscape has changed drastically since then.

Almost certainly Gritsyuk isnt in N.A because he thinks 2 more years KHL development is best for himself. And is likely hesitant of the possibility making peanuts in the AHL too.
Its better to be 100% ready when one makes the NHL jump

 

[Guadana]

Seems to be a reason he is still in Russia and not in New Jersey/Utica. While Lou Lamoriello was a key figure in bringing the first wave of players from the then-Soviet Union to the NHL, the current regime seems less willing to do so.

He is in Russia because he can be in Russia, its better for his development to play in Russia and he signed two year deal with SKA.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Didn't mean to take this from a discussion of Gritsyuk to an assessment of the defense corps (and the person who posts the majority of posts about the Comets tends to view everything about the team in an extremely pessimistic way to my view).

But getting back to my original thread - during the Stanley Cup years and even when the Devils made the run to the Finals in 2013, there were half a dozen former KHL players who played key roles.

That is no longer the case.

 

[Xirik]

Didn't mean to take this from a discussion of Gritsyuk to an assessment of the defense corps (and the person who posts the majority of posts about the Comets tends to view everything about the team in an extremely pessimistic way to my view).

But getting back to my original thread - during the Stanley Cup years and even when the Devils made the run to the Finals in 2013, there were half a dozen former KHL players who played key roles.

That is no longer the case.

Is there a question here? do you seriously not understand why?

 

[Guttersniped]

Didn't mean to take this from a discussion of Gritsyuk to an assessment of the defense corps (and the person who posts the majority of posts about the Comets tends to view everything about the team in an extremely pessimistic way to my view).

But getting back to my original thread - during the Stanley Cup years and even when the Devils made the run to the Finals in 2013, there were half a dozen former KHL players who played key roles.

That is no longer the case.

It was 2012 and while there were 5 USSR-born players (if want to count Zubrus here), there was only one who was drafted by and brought over by Lou (Zharkov). The other 4 were from trades.

1995 Cup team: 2 (Brylin, Zelepukin), 2 drafted by NJD.

2000 Cup team: 4 (Brylin, Mogilny, Nemchimov, Malakhov), 1 drafted by NJD.

2003 Cup team: 2 (Brylin, Tverdovsky), 1 drafted by NJD.

The 37 Russian players the Devils drafted are listed below. 14 played in the NHL, 12 for the Devils.

After 1992, the Lou-era Devils’ success, and arguably scouting, with Russian draft picks declined. The players Lou did bring over after 1992 were drafted in the first three rounds.

He straight up stopped drafting Russians after 2006, but so did a number of other NHL teams from roughly 2007 to 2012.

Three post-Lou players were drafted, played in NJ and then were traded away.

 

[DougBodger]

His first NHL year will be his 25/26 year old season. He'll be expected to produce like he's in the prime of his career - hopefully he can handle the pressure.

 

[Brodeur]

His first NHL year will be his 25/26 year old season. He'll be expected to produce like he's in the prime of his career - hopefully he can handle the pressure.

Assuming he signs after the 2024-25 KHL season is over, he'll still be 24 going into the 2025-26 season. Depending on how quickly he's knocked out, it's not inconceivable that he could join the Devils for the stretch run next April. Colorado preemptively signed Nikolai Kovalenko before the season and he joined the Avs' AHL squad recently after Kovalenko's KHL squad was eliminated.

But yeah, he'll hopefully hit the ground running. By waiting to sign until he's 24, Gritsyuk would be required to sign a 1 year ELC which could get burned immediately without him playing (same with Nikita Gusev/Vegas). His second contract could be tricky if he doesn't get any game time. Devils naturally would probably prefer that his ELC would be for the 2025-26 season but burning that year might be the price in luring him over.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

It was 2012 and while there were 5 USSR-born players (if want to count Zubrus here), there was only one who was drafted by and brought over by Lou (Zharkov). The other 4 were from trades.

1995 Cup team: 2 (Brylin, Zelepukin), 2 drafted by NJD.

2000 Cup team: 4 (Brylin, Mogilny, Nemchimov, Malakhov), 1 drafted by NJD.

2003 Cup team: 2 (Brylin, Tverdovsky), 1 drafted by NJD.

The 37 Russian players the Devils drafted are listed below. 14 played in the NHL, 12 for the Devils.

After 1992, the Lou-era Devils’ success, and arguably scouting, with Russian draft picks declined. The players Lou did bring over after 1992 were drafted in the first three rounds.

He straight up stopped drafting Russians after 2006, but so did a number of other NHL teams from roughly 2007 to 2012.

Three post-Lou players were drafted, played in NJ and then were traded away.

View attachment 841726
View attachment 841727

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Not counting the three players taken in 2021 and 2022 since it is still too early to determine their futures, the Devils selected eight Russian-trained players since 2017.

Exactly two, Misyul and Gritsyuk, are still in the organization. And both have yet to play a game with the Devils.

Coincidence? Or political correctness?

Apparently Devils' hockey isn't for everyone.

 

[Guttersniped]

Not counting the three players taken in 2021 and 2022 since it is still too early to determine their futures, the Devils selected eight Russian-trained players since 2017.

Exactly two, Misyul and Gritsyuk, are still in the organization. And both have yet to play a game with the Devils.

Coincidence? Or political correctness?

Apparently Devils' hockey isn't for everyone.

I don’t even know what you mean by “political correctness” in this context.

4 of these 8 players were signed and 2 played for the organization before being traded.

Only 3 of the 8 were drafted in the first three rounds so it’s not surprising some were longer term projects or never got signed.

I liked the traded Russian players, but I liked Studenic, Boqvist and Joey Anderson too. Players move on for a variety of reasons.

Non-Russian prospects have been traded without ever playing, or even signing, in NJ too.

Gritsyuk will presumably sign when his KHL deal is up.

Hatakka blocked Misyul, and got 12 NHL games instead, but maybe Misyul gets a game if/when Devils playoffs slim playoff chances disappear entirely.

This is pretty basic stuff, not sure why you find this mysterious or suspicious.

Here’s the Devils history with Finnish picks.

All Finnish players with Min 10 games played


Did Lou hate Finns? What can explain this astonishing mystery? Or maybe it’s not a mystery, and the Devils were bad at drafting Finns, and then they didn’t do it for a while.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Not counting the three players taken in 2021 and 2022 since it is still too early to determine their futures, the Devils selected eight Russian-trained players since 2017.

Exactly two, Misyul and Gritsyuk, are still in the organization. And both have yet to play a game with the Devils.

Coincidence? Or political correctness?

Apparently Devils' hockey isn't for everyone.

Hey kudos to you for recognizing your absurd takes didn’t belong on the Devils board. This is a much more appropriate arena for you.

 

[Xirik]

Hey kudos to you for recognizing your absurd takes didn’t belong on the Devils board. This is a much more appropriate arena for you.

Its the Devils fault though! the USSR falling and the various leagues in the 90s and early 2000s not offering good money compared to the NHL has nothing to do with it.

The Devils should offer Gritsyuk a $10 million dollar contract in order to lure him over! That would please Jersey Fan.