New Jersey Devils assistant general manager Dan MacKinnon recently spoke with NHL.com ahead of the 2025-26 season.
With several players competing for roster spots, MacKinnon highlighted forward Arseniy Gritsyuk, who is expected to arrive in New Jersey this week.
Gritsyuk was selected 129th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, the same year the Devils took Jack Hughes first overall. After several seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), the 24-year-old winger is now ready to compete for a spot in the NHL.
Expectations are already high. Last season, Gritsyuk tallied 17 goals and 27 assists for 44 points in 49 games. He officially signed with the Devils in May and is confirmed to be traveling to North America.
Ahead of his arrival, MacKinnon compared Gritsyuk’s path to another familiar case:
“If you're looking for an NHL comparison, I look at Evgenii Dadonov, who came over early but it didn’t work. He went back to the KHL for several years and then came over the second time, which was more in line with the age Gritsyuk is now, and it went very well,” MacKinnon told NHL.com. “We’re hoping the added time that Arseni took in the KHL means the first audition sticks.”
For his part, Gritsyuk isn’t worried about where he’ll slot into the lineup. Speaking with Russian outlet TASS, he said:
“I don’t have any favorite hockey players — you evaluate them from a professional point of view. I studied the team’s roster. Yes, there’s Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier — top-six center forwards. I’d like to join them, but we’ll see how ready I am.”
He also praised the Devils’ two franchise centers, pointing out their contrasting styles:
“Hughes skates well, Hischier is more of a two-way forward, and he can also fight in defense. It is clear that Hughes is a superstar, and the whole team is built around him to get results. So it will be harder with him in the line — you will have to do more work. But it makes no difference to me which of them I play with.”
Both Gritsyuk and the Devils’ staff are eager to see how he transitions to the North American game. He will make his debut at training camp this month, giving fans their first real look at what he can bring to the ice.
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts prepares to throw to first base during a game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. Dave Roberts has no plans to move Betts back into right field. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
The only times Roberts said he envisioned Betts returning to right field was late in games in which the Dodgers ran out of bench players. A situation like that came up a few weeks ago in a game against the Angels. Miguel Rojas, an infielder, was deployed as a pinch hitter in the top of the eighth inning and remained in the game at shortstop. Betts defended right field for an inning.
Roberts isn’t sticking with Betts at shortstop because of their close relationship. He’s sticking with Betts at shortstop because of how Betts has played the position.
Betts entered his team’s weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks leading all major league shortstops in defensive runs saved (15).
He was ninth in outs above average (four).
He was also fifth in fielding percentage (.985).
“When you’re talking about shortstop play, you’re looking for consistency, and I’ve just loved the consistency,” Roberts said. “He’s made every play he’s supposed to make, and then the last couple weeks, he’s made spectacular plays. He’s been a big part of preventing runs. “
Roberts is equally, if not more, encouraged by how Betts has looked.
“Right now, it’s all instinct instead of the technical part of it, how to do this or that,” Roberts said. “I think he’s free to just be a major league shortstop. I truly, to this day, have never seen a position change like Mookie has.”
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts throws to first base after forcing out Padres baserunner Freddy Fermin at second on Aug. 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
A six-time Gold Glove Award winner as a right fielder, Betts moved to shortstop late in spring training last year when it became evident the team didn’t have an everyday player at the position. The last time he spent significant time at shortstop was in high school.
By mid-June, Betts was about a league-average shortstop but further progress was derailed by a broken hand that landed him on the injured list. When Betts was activated a couple of months later, he returned as a right fielder. He remained there throughout the Dodgers’ World Series run.
However, Betts was determined to take another shot at playing shortstop. Unlike the previous year, he was able to train at this position over the offseason, working with Dodgers coaches and former All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. The preparation has made a noticeable difference.
Betts has improved to where he now feels comfortable dispensing advice on how to play the position, regularly offering pointers to rookie infielder Alex Freeland.
“It’s the smallest details,” Freeland said. “I give him so much credit because he makes the small things matter the most because a lot of those smaller details go overlooked by a lot of players where they’re like, ‘Oh, we don’t need to focus on that, something so minute, it’s not going to matter.’ But Mookie takes all the small details and makes them very important.”
Roberts expected this of Betts, whom he considers one of the team’s leaders alongside Freddie Freeman and Clayton Kershaw. He pointed to how Betts has carried himself in the worst offensive season of his career, his relentless work resulting in him batting .329 over the last three weeks.
“I love how Mookie is always accountable,” Roberts said. “There’s been times where he’s been really good and times he hasn’t but he’s never run from having the conversation or owning the fact that he’s underperforming. His work has never wavered. So for me, that’s something that when you’re talking about one of the leaders in your clubhouse, it really resonates with everyone, coaches included. I’m always going to bet on him.”
So much so that Roberts has wagered the season on him.
Mookie Betts is his shortstop — now, next week and in the postseason.
With nearly 40 years as the face of ESPN's "College GameDay," Lee Corso is a college football instiution and is revered by fans, media, coaches and players because of it.
