Devils’ Arseny Gritsyuk Out with Upper-Body Injury

On Friday, Dec. 12, the New Jersey Devils announced forward Arseny Gritsyuk miss the team’s back-to-back games this weekend due to an upper-body injury. He was not a participant in today’s Devils practice because of it.

Gritsyuk reached out on his favorite social media site, Telegram, to share his side of the news following the announcement. He commented, “Although I haven’t been fully examined yet, I’m certain I’ll miss the next two games. I am confident that everything will be fine with my health and our results. As they say, we’ll come back stronger.”

This is Gritsyuk’s first season in the NHL. The young rookie has played in 31 games and has recorded 16 points (seven goals and nine assists). He has switched between the top six and the bottom six but has been in the top six the most after Jack Hughes’ injury.

With Gritsyuk injured, the Devils are now down seven players for the season. The top six is taking a beating with the absence of Gritsyuk, Hughes, and now Timo Meier as he tends to a family matter. The Devils also placed Evgenii Dadonov on injured reserve (IR) yesterday and called up Xavier Parent from the Utica Comets, their American Hockey League (AHL) team.

Yesterday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning marked Parent’s first game in the NHL. He played on the fourth line, but this was the perfect spot for him. As the lines will have to change around again for the weekend, Parent is getting a taste of what it’s like to play in the NHL.

The Devils have two matinees this weekend. They will host the Anaheim Ducks at 12:30 PM ET on Saturday afternoon, then host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday at 12:30 PM ET.