Long before Arseny Gritsyuk signed with the New Jersey Devils, he nearly walked away from hockey. But what once felt like a breaking point ultimately became the defining moment of his career.
In a recent interview with Tribuna’s YouTube channel, conducted in Russian and translated to English, Gritsyuk reflected on his time playing under former Avangard Omsk head coach Bob Hartley in the Russian KHL. A former NHL coach of nearly two decades, Hartley regularly put Gritsyuk through mentally demanding tests in an effort to get the most out of him. Sometimes, it bordered on going too far.
“In September or October, I thought I was done with hockey,” Gritsyuk admitted.
After playing in just 12 games the season prior, a then- 20-year-old Gritsyuk arrived for camp believing he’d earned his opportunity to become a full-time KHL player. Hartley trusted him throughout the preseason, using him in key situations and giving the young forward every reason to believe he was ready.
Then one meeting destroyed that confidence entirely. Hartley called him into his office. Standing in front of a whiteboard displaying the team’s forward lines, he asked the young winger where he believed he belonged. Gritsyuk said the first line.
Hartley proceeded to create a fictional fifth line — just to place Gritsyuk on.
Gritsyuk refused to accept it. When Hartley again asked where he saw himself, Gritsyuk confidently pointed to the top line and even named the player he believed he should replace. Hartley responded by making a show of sticking him to the fifth line. The exchange only escalated from there.
“He said, ‘Do you understand that I want to help you become better?’” Gritsyuk recalled. “I told him, ‘No. I think you’re trying to kill the hockey player in me.’“
Gritsyuk stormed out of the office believing his time with Avangard was over. The confrontation marked a breaking point after Hartley’s repeated efforts to push him mentally.
“It was really tough,” he said. “The coaches didn’t talk to me for a week. I immediately called my agent and said, ‘That’s it. I think I’m done with this team and this system.’”
The silence from the coaching staff only added to his frustration.
“I endured it all…it’s mentally devastating,” he said.
Instead of breaking, however, Gritsyuk gradually earned Hartley’s trust. He first moved onto the third line before receiving power-play opportunities. As the season progressed, his role continued to grow until he found himself on the first line and the top power-play unit. Gritsyuk finished the year with 16 goals, plus six more in the Gagarin Cup Playoffs, and was named the KHL’s Rookie of the Year.
Only after the season ended did Hartley reveal the purpose behind everything.
“We had a meeting after the season,” Gritsyuk said. “He told me, ‘Do you realize I was testing you mentally? I wanted to see how ready you really were to play here. Don’t hold it against me for pushing you for so long. I’m proud you’ve come this far.’”
Looking back now, Gritsyuk views the experience through a completely different lens.
“I just stood there and said, ‘Thank you so much. I really appreciate it,’” he said.
The two have remained in contact ever since.
“[Hartley] was probably the coach who truly transformed the player in me,” Gritsyuk said.
Today, it’s hard to imagine that same player contemplating walking away from hockey. Gritsyuk’s unwavering confidence and exuberant personality have become defining traits, helping him post 31 points as a rookie while quickly becoming a fan favorite in New Jersey.
Hartley’s influence on Gritsyuk even extends to another area of the game that remains highly valued in the NHL: standing up for teammates.
In a separate interview with Russian media outlet SKLed, Gritsyuk revealed Hartley occasionally kept the team’s skilled forwards after practice to prepare them for on-ice altercations. Rather than teaching them how to win fights, Hartley instructed them how to protect themselves by tying up opponents’ arms and avoiding unnecessary punches to the head if a scrum broke out. Those lessons appear to have carried over into Gritsyuk’s rookie season with the Devils.
Despite standing just 5-foot-10, Gritsyuk got accustomed to standing up for teammates, even confronting former SKA St. Petersburg teammate Matvei Michkov after tensions escalated during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this season. Weeks later, he again jumped into the fray after Connor Brown absorbed a heavy hit against the New York Rangers, another example of the mindset Hartley worked to instill years earlier.
While Gritsyuk didn’t always have that mentality, he now explains it simply:
“You can’t just let some things go.”
Hartley’s methods weren’t always easy for Gritsyuk to accept, but years later, he no longer views them as punishment. Instead, he sees them as the foundation of the player he became.
“He’s a legend for being able to pull all of that off,” Gritsyuk said with a laugh.
Daniel is a New Jersey Devils Beat Reporter for Sportsnaut. He graduated from Montclair State University in 2025 with … More about Daniel Amoia