Six years after being drafted 129th overall by New Jersey, Arseniy/Arseny/Arseniy (I've seen his name spelt all three ways, the latter on NHL's official site is what we will go with) Gritsyuk saw his first taste of the NHL. In his debut, Triple A showed glimpses of brilliance throughout. Besides the his slick assist on the Paul Cotter goal and a power play one-time tally that scorched the top right corner, it was the little things that should inspire the Devils fanbase. Gritsyuk showed an ability to find open ice, of which he does not need much of with his quick-release. The bigger than expected 24 year old has an elite shot and a knack for scoring, something very few bottom nine Devils have had since Tyler Toffoli's departure. I'm going to make a very premature prediction from this extremely small sample size, and say #81 eclipses 20 goals for NJ in this upcoming campaign.
Other Notes From The Game:
Nathan Legare
Tenacious. Not much more needs to be said about this 24 year old winger. Legare was in the mix early and often, leaving the coaching no choice but to notice him. He was physical in front of Jake Allen in the first, and dropped the mitts twice in a few quick tussles. Legare is an agitator, a nuissance, and the opposition knows everytime he steps on the ice. While he's unlikely to get any NHL time this season, if needed Fitzgerald and Keefe should feel comfortable in knowing they'll get their moneys worth with Legare.
Dennis Cholowski
Despite two power play helpers, Cholowski picked up where he left off last season, struggling. Nearly every shift I saw that wasn't on the man advantage, Cholowski struggled defensively. The Devils were pinned in their own end on many of his shifts. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, playing with some unfamiliar faces, but nontheless we should remain very happy that he's in the double digits when it comes to the Devils' defensive depth chart.
Kurtis MacDermid
I love this guy, but he's not it. MacDermid struggled to keep up with an AHL Ranger lineup. Even Matt Rempe looked like Mike Gartner when skating next to MacDermid yesterday. His role in this league is limited and lessening by the day. Rempe clearly wants no business dropping the gloves (and i don't blame him) and there are very few teams with Rempe-like players that we'd like to see pummeled. If big Kurtis plays more than five games this season, I'll be shocked.
Nico Daws
Daws had a horrendous stat line of 4 goals against on just 13 shots. While most of it can be attributed to the defensive slop in front of him, let's keep that a secret to the other 31 NHL teams. Daws who still has tremendous upside, cannot be optioned to Utica without clearing waivers. A few more bad box scores this preseason, and maybe Daws gets through and the Devils can retain him in the AHL until needed again.