Enter: Gritsyuk | FEATURE

Thirteen hours and thirty minutes in the air. That was the longest of the four leg stretches of Arseni Gritsyuk’s journey from Russia to New Jersey.

This had been a long-anticipated flight, not just for the 24-year-old Gritsyuk, but for the New Jersey Devils, too. It was the long-awaited trip that finally brought one of their most intriguing prospects to North America.

He chose his usual aisle seat so he could move, stretch, and break up the monotonous grind. Below the cabin, two overstuffed hockey bags and a suitcase carried everything he'll need from his life in Russia for a long journey westward.

After a six-hour flight from Russia to Dubai, Gritsyuk boarded his 13-and-a-half-hour flight to Montreal. To keep himself busy, he buys WIFI to message with his friends, and watches television series. He slept three hours too.

He fancied himself lucky, he said, because he had what we all crave on a long flight.

"When I flew to Montreal, there was an empty seat next to me," Gritsyuk said with a laugh.

When he finally touched down in North America (for only the third time in his life - he's been to Edmonton twice for international tournaments), he had just one thought:

"I need food," he laughed when asked what went through his head the moment he stepped off the plane.

He bought himself a Caesar salad and a chocolate bar. The salad wasn't great, he admitted, so he bought two more chocolate bars. And he had his first Gatorade.

It was blue-flavored.

"So good," he exclaimed, adding that back home, they only have Gatorade packets.

In Montreal, Gritsyuk picked up his bags and boarded a flight to Ottawa, where he would be for two days awaiting his work visa to travel to New Jersey. When he posted on his social media about being in Ottawa, one former Saint Petersburg teammate reached out immediately. Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov saw the post and texted his friend. It was roughly 8 a.m. He wanted to know why Gritsyuk hadn't told him he was in Ottawa. It was, Gritsyuk said, because he didn't realize how close the two cities were, he thought, at best, they may have been hours apart.

It's actually a two-hour drive.

"He texted me at eight in the morning and by 12 o'clock, he was already there," he said. He and Demidov spent a few hours together, had lunch and it was a nice reprieve for Gritsyuk to have someone familiar in such an unfamiliar location.

Demidov has been one of the friends and former teammates Gritsyuk has leaned on as he prepares for his own transition to the NHL.

"He told me you need to always be stronger, like always, always be ready for the hit," Gritsyuk said of the advice Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov insisted on.

“I talked to him after Montreal (lost) in the playoffs. I called him for a lot of details. He said it’s always a challenging game, every game. The pressure, there’s always pressure, not much time. And the micro-battles, so important. When you go back (for the puck), body check, body check, body check,” Gritsyuk grinned, hitting his fist into his open hand to emphasize the body checking that awaits him.

“He told me you need to be stronger.”

He last played on April 6 with St. Petersburg, leaving over five months between his last game and the opening of rookie camp. Normally, his summers are short. This one was exceptionally long.

But it was focused.

“Before I would have just two months and go with St. Petersburg, now I have workout four months, a little bit different of a program," he said. "Right now, I worked with high weights because I needed more muscle. I gained weight, muscle weight. I know I needed to be bigger.”

After spending two days in Ottawa, where Devils' European scout Misha Manchik also greeted him, Gritsyuk flew to New Jersey. Less than 24 hours after he touching down in the United States for the first time, he was already at Prudential Center, skating with a handful of Devils teammates who had already arrived in the area ahead of training camp. Now he is taking part in his first interview.

Just another step in this journey.

Gritsyuk is quite bashful about his English abilities, but the truth is that his communication skills are strong. He has taken English classes twice a week for the last year. Manchik has been with Gritsyuk to help facilitate any translation when necessary, but Gritsyuk is clearly very independent and adaptable. He joked that he had already been to the store by himself and set himself up with an American SIM card and phone number. Only on occasion does Gritsyuk look over to Manchik, requiring a Russian translation. When he wants to express himself to the fullest extent, he'll switch to his native Russian, and Manchik will translate.

"I need more words," Gritsyuk laughs, adding: "It was important for me (to learn English), it's better for me, because I will understand coach."

If his English is any indication, he's a quick learner and that should bode well.

He's looking forward, he says, to the opportunity to be teammates with stars like Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, and Jesper Bratt. But he hasn't thought much of the expectations he'll put on himself. You can prepare as much as you want for a new experience, but until you're in it, only then can you begin to quantify personal expectations.

"For me, I don't know what it is, hockey here, what is it the hockey that they play," Gritsyuk shared. "I speak with a lot of guys, like (Alexander) Nikishkin. We had a lot of talks. You need time (to adapt), you need to be calm, be patient."

And for all that he doesn't know about what lays ahead, he does have an understanding for what type of game the Devils play and sees himself as someone who can fit that mold.

"I know (head coach) Sheldon (Keefe) loves speed hockey, like always pressure, and I think my speed supports him, and he supports me faster adaptation in NHL," he explained. "I look at roster, a lot of guys have skills, a lot of guys have (are) good, and have all four lines really well. I think I'm middle, if you need me to be high in lineup, if you need to be stronger, if you need skill, I can be."

Until then, Gritsyuk is giving himself time to acclimate. It's why he arrived in New Jersey on the earlier side. Just prior to his interview, he was getting a tour of the locker room from assistant coach Sergei Brylin, and only hours earlier he had met fellow Russian and Devils newcomer Evgenii Dadonov. They’ll be two people he leans on, he says.

He points to Sarge as someone he can lean on for clarity when it comes to tactics and understanding exactly what Keefe expects. With Dadonov alongside him, both on the ice and on the bench, he’ll have another trusted voice in his native language.

“It’s important,” Gritsyuk said. “If I didn’t have them, it would be a little bit harder for me.”

What is harder right now, he added with a laugh, is simply keeping everyone’s names straight.

“In Russia, you go in a room and everyone’s name is Sergei, Maxim, Anton. Here it’s Jake, Bobby, Scott, Markstrom, Marky. It’s a little bit different.”

It’s all part of the adjustment. One thing at a time.

In two weeks, Gritsyuk will finally get his first taste of an NHL training camp when he hits the ice with the Devils veterans. Since being drafted in 2019, he’s watched the Devils grow from a distance, now he knows the challenge will be to step in and prove this is where he also belongs. The path from the KHL won’t be simple, but Gritsyuk isn’t shying away. He’s ready to embrace the challenge.

There is an excitement brewing.

When general manager Tom Fitzgerald addressed the media on July 2, after the first full day of Free Agency, he made sure to note the upcoming addition of Gritsyuk, among several others in the system.

“Gritsyuk will be the one that we’re really excited to see when he comes over here,” Fitzgerald said.

Gritsyuk hopes so, too.

“I really appreciate that so much,” Gritsyuk said through Manchik, when asked about Fitzgerald’s comments. “Tom Fitzgerald is saying that, so I am really excited and will try to live up to that.”