Summer Session | 10 TAKEAWAYS

Wow, we're already at July 9!

Not sure where the time goes, but here we are, right in the middle of summer. It’s been a little while since we last connected for a 10 Takeaways, so before things really slow down, I thought we’d do a little summer session and check in on some of the biggest stories and storylines from the last few weeks.

There’s been plenty to catch up on, so let’s dive right in!

1.

Loved chatting with Arseny Gritsyuk last week about his new contract and his excitement for the season ahead. There's no question he fit in seamlessly during his first year, so with that adjustment already behind him, it feels like there's another level to his game waiting to emerge.

But as much as his excitement stood out, which, to be fair, is pretty much Gritsyuk's default setting, it was a story he told about Nico that really stuck with me.

Gritsyuk admitted he arrived in New Jersey with plenty of nerves. That's understandable. New country. New language. New teammates. And, as he put it, these weren't just any teammates. They were the players he'd been controlling on PlayStation, and suddenly he was sharing a locker room with them.

Early in the season, Gritsyuk said Nico seemed to recognize that he was still finding his footing. So one day, the captain walked over, sat beside him at lunch, and simply started talking. A little hockey, sure, but mostly just life.

"Such a good guy," Gritsyuk said.

He explained how much that simple conversation meant to him, and how quickly it made him feel like he belonged.

It's the kind of moment that rarely makes headlines, mostly because they happen behind the scenes. But sometimes leadership isn't the locker-room speech or the moment in front of the camera.

Sometimes it's just choosing the empty seat beside the new guy.

2.

When Grits was asked what he misses about New Jersey, somehow the New Jersey traffic came into play. 

Did not have that one on my list.

He says Moscow traffic is way worse. 

Gritsyuk might be the first one ever to miss Jersey traffic. 

One of a kind, I tell you.

3.

It will be a few years yet before we see Alexander Command in the NHL, but that didn’t stop a fellow Swede from welcoming him to New Jersey. During Development Camp last week, Jesper Bratt and his fiancée, Nicole, invited Command and the two other Swedish players attending Development Camp, Sigge Holmgren and Gustav Hillstrom, to their home for dinner during one of their free evenings.

A nice touch from Bratt.

4.

I asked Command about this photo of him as a young kid wearing a New Jersey Devils shirt at home in Sweden, long before he was drafted by the team. He smiled big, saying that his family was always a fan of both New York and New Jersey teams, and at 12 or 13, he stuck with New Jersey, an incredible coincidence all these years later. 

He said not only did he have this shirt, but he also had a Devils sweatshirt that he wore quite often as well.

On being drafted, and thinking about that moment, when the Devils selected him, here's what he had to say:

"I sat there, hoping, but I didn’t think it was going to go; that’s why I was so surprised."

5.

I feel like we’re in for some sneaky good fun with Evan Rodrigues this season. He seems to be a bit of a character. 

Take for example this clip that has since gone viral and has become a meme. 

It's Rodrigues being introduced during the Stanley Cup Final, in front of the Edmonton crowd that loudly booed him. He could have kept a stoic face, but instead, he played right into the moment. 

The smirk became a meme.

“It was one of those moments where I tried to enjoy it, right?.," Rodrigues said to Florida Panthers reporter Jameson Olive, "You put a smile on your face and try to embrace what was going on, the moment you were in and obviously it came out a little differently than I probably would have thought, but you see the Stnaley Cup there and fans are booing and, that arena, coming off the year prior, knowing how loud it was going to be, it already was, I just triued to tkae it in and it went a little sideways!”

6.

When I asked Evan Rodrigues what he learned from winning back-to-back Stanley Cups that he didn't know before, I expected something about systems or experience. Instead, his answer went somewhere I hadn't really considered.

He says the success comes from the work a player puts into his recovery all throughout the season, gearing your body toward playing not 82 (or, I guess, in this case, coming up, 84) games, but "upwards of 100 games."

"It really is about the little things, the recovery more than anything," he said. "Everything that you do away from the rink, away from rink, it all adds up. It may seem mundane in the moment, or it may seem like a little thing in the moment, but all those things add up.

"When you’re playing potentially upwards of 100 games a year, you have to focus on the recovery; it’s become one of the biggest parts of the NHL in my opinion."

It's one of the reasons GM Sunny Mehta believes Rodrigues is such a valuable addition, having seen firsthand what he brought during their time together in Florida.

"This for me, in a lot of ways is a next step, a logical next step for him, where he’s been an important cog in a machine, and he’s coming here now and he’s going to be a leader," Mehta said. "He’s going to be the guy that just won two Stanley Cups and is a veteran now and I think he’s going to have a lot of impact on our culture and our locker room."

Mehta also pointed to Rodrigues' journey as an undrafted player and the work he's put in throughout his career as a major reason he wanted to bring him to New Jersey.

"I can’t say enough good things about Evan," he said. "He was a player that we targeted in Florida and as soon as I got here, it was a target in this trade to bring in a play whose worked so hard, an undrafted player, worked so hard throughout his career, been in different places, has had ups and downs, really underrated in a lot of respects."

7.

My favorite quote from Nico during his media availability:

"I'm part of this team, I'm part of the organization, and I want to be part of the solution and not run away. That was very important for me. I'm excited to see what still happens in the summer and, when October comes and we'll re-attack then.”

8.

It's already been a memorable summer for Lenni Hämeenaho, who helped Finland capture gold at the World Championship in late May.

When I caught up with Lenni a few weeks ago, he admitted it was the first time he'd truly experienced what it felt like to win at that level. The moment was so overwhelming that he said he almost blacked out during the on-ice celebration.

Now that he's felt it, he wants more.

Winning has given Hämeenaho a new level of motivation heading into next season with New Jersey. Once you experience that high, it's hard not to chase it again.

“This was my first experience winning,” he said. “So obviously, you want it every year. It makes my training better. I will be more hungry for next season, to win something (in New Jersey).”

9.

It was a really great experience that took place behind the scenes at Development Camp this year, when the organization brought in the o2X Human Performance company, which helps organizations curate, improve, and develop health, resilience, and performance through science-based training, coaching, and education.

Utica head coach Ryan Parent spoke about it and the value of doing a lot of the off-ice work during a short, smaller camp like the one they had this year.

“We had a really good presentation by o2X Human Performance,” Utica head coach Ryan Parent said. “A lot of it was about learning about self-evaluation, how to be a good leader, and within that there were important team-building activities. It was the smallest of things, where you’re in a group of 12, 14 people and you’re interacting more with each other. You’re not in a group of 40 where you might be trying to figure out who each guy is and where they come from. So even having those guys come in is a really good team-building activity for our guys.”

You can check out a little behind-the-scenes here in this exclusive video from o2X:

10.

We're only a few short days away from the release of the 2026-27 NHL schedule... it comes out next week! So, it's time to take a little break, refresh a little bit and gear up for next season. New may be on the quieter side now, though there are always things that pop up (and I guess those are also famous last words!), but I just wanted to thank everyone for being loyal readers to 10 Takeaways. It's such a fun piece to produce, and I hope that it allows you guys to catch up on stories you may have missed each week! 

I truly appreciate everyone's support and can't wait to get it all started again in just a few months from now!