The New Jersey Devils just keep on scoring goals, despite the fact that they almost certainly won’t make the playoffs. Their 3.90 goals per 60 minutes since Feb. 28 leads the entire league. (via Natural Stat Trick) They’re looking to keep it up and finish out the season strong.
Related: Devils’ Offensive Surge a Silver Lining Amidst Rocky Season
In this edition of Devils News & Rumors, we discuss Arseny Gritsyuk’s surgery, Jack Hughes‘ first pitch at Yankees Stadium, and a message being sent with recent call-ups.
Arseny Gritsyuk Out for Remainder of Season
With a strong preseason and heartwarming Telegram updates, Gritsyuk became a fan favorite before he ever played in a game that counted. Fast forward a few months, and he put together a very solid first NHL season.
Unfortunately, that season is now cut short due to surgery on an injury that is being labeled as upper body. It came as a bit of a surprise; just a few days ago, head coach Sheldon Keefe said Gritsyuk — who had only missed two games at that point — was progressing well.
Keefe mentioned Grits was looking to return, but in talking with the Drs & his reps “he’s elected to have surgery to get it repaired and start to have a full off-season, or as good an off-season as he can and most importantly, not have this be something that continues to pop up.” https://t.co/GnI4oyC8pE
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) April 2, 2026
In total, he amassed 31 points (13G, 18A) in 66 games — a ~39-point pace over a full season. He certainly gained confidence as the season progressed, finishing out with eight points (4G, 4A) in 10 games and a plus-5 rating.
Jack Hughes’ First Pitch at Yankees Stadium
Jack has been living about as good of a life as possible since scoring the Golden Goal that will live on for generations. But as a lifelong New York Yankees fan, his recent opportunity stood out amongst the rest: he, alongside U.S. Women’s Hockey Gold Medalist Aerin Frankel, got to throw out the first pitch side-by-side at the Yankees’ home opener.
“[I] always come to games in the summer,” said Jack in an interview publicized by Sportsnet New York. “When everything went down, this is the one thing I was wondering if it would happen.”
#NJDevils Jack Hughes throws a strike to Yankees’ 1B Ben Rice.
ABS confirms. pic.twitter.com/UFYQoRqabq
— Daniel Amoia (@daniel_amoia) April 3, 2026
Don’t check with baseball’s new automatic balls and strikes system, but we’re going to call this one a strike. According to Sports Business Journal, the Yankees’ SVP/Marketing Debbie Tymon explained that Quinn Hughes was also invited but couldn’t make it due to the Minnesota Wild’s travel schedule. The brothers are “going to come back together later in the season.”
Message Sent to 4th Line
No matter their make-up, the Devils’ fourth line has struggled during this recent stretch (while the rest of the offense surges). Today, the Devils announced two call-ups from the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League (AHL): forwards Brian Halonen and Marc McLaughlin.
“[This] opportunity presents itself because we haven’t liked how the fourth line has looked or played,” said Keefe to NJD.TV.
Both Halonen and McLaughlin were having solid seasons in Utica. Halonen, a winger, has 19 goals and 32 points in 48 games.
McLaughlin, a center who was injured for a large portion of the season, has six goals and 13 points in 21 games. We’ll see if they can make an impact.
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