On Day one of National Hockey League Free Agency, the New York Rangers signed 29-year-old free agent defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven year deal. The deal is reportedly worth $49 million and $7 million per year.
Gavrikov became the most coveted free agent defenseman on the market after Stanley Cup champion Aaron Ekblad re-signed with the Florida Panthers.
The Russian played the last two and a half seasons with the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings tried to re-sign their 6-foot-3, 220-pound blueliner but talks fizzled out prior to the free agency period and that’s how he landed on Ranger general manager Chris Drury’s radar. He is now a key piece to the puzzle being put together by Drury and new head coach Mike Sullivan to try and get the Rangers back to the playoffs in 2025-26.
What Experience does Gavrikov Have?
The Yaroslavl, Russia native was drafted in the sixth round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets as a 19-year-old. Having strong roots in his home country, Gavrikov played five seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Yaroslavl and SKA St. Petersburg before making his NHL debut in 2019 with the Blue Jackets.
He then played three seasons in Ohio and put up an NHL career high 33 points in 2021-22 before he was traded on March 1, 2023 with goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to the Los Angeles Kings for goalie Jonathan Quick, a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and a third-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft. He played the remainder of the 2022-23 season and two full seasons after that with L.A. where he scored 62 points and was a +47 in 179 games as a King.
Now, Gavrikov gets the chance to be teammates with the guy he was traded for, Jonathan Quick and what an opportunity that will be. Quick was named the winner of the 2025 Rod Gilbert Mr. Ranger award for his leadership and humanitarian contributions. Gavrikov brings six years of NHL experience with him to Broadway.
Where does Gavrikov Fit on Ranger Blueline?
When one player gets brought in, there’s the strong possibility that another will make his way out and that seems to be the case for 2018 first round pick K’Andre Miller. The most recent reports say that the 25-year-old defenseman will be traded to the Carolina Hurricanes
In terms of how Gavrikov fits into the New York Rangers lineup, he can fit on a pairing with former Norris trophy winning defenseman Adam Fox because of the contrast it provides to Fox’s offensive qualities.
Here is what Daily Faceoff host Jonny Lazarus said about Gavrikov on a Daily Faceoff Podcast.
Gavrikov is the guy everyone wants K’Andre Miller to be in New York. He’s physical, he’s a shut down defenseman, he can move the puck, positionally sound. Doesn’t have the offensive upside that K’Andre Miller probably does have but K’Andre Miller hasn’t been that mean, physical presence that we all hoped he would be. Gavrikov obviously has a similar size and reach to Miller so I like that they’re going to use him as a top D- pair for Adam Fox…Fox finally has that steady D partner for seven years now in Gavrikov that he can stay home and Adam Fox can play a little bit more offense.
Comparing Gavrikov’s stats for the 2024-25 season with K’Andre Miller’s, Gavrikov seems like an upgrade defensively. The one stat that jumps off the page is plus/minus rating. Miller averaged 21:57 minutes of ice time and had a 0 plus/minus last season while Gavrikov was a +27 and averaged more ice time (23:05) than Miller did and that’s a good sign for the Rangers. Conversely, the newest Blueshirt doesn’t add more offensively than Miller but he still had 30 points to Miller’s 27 last season.
To provide some clarity, Corsi For percentage measures the amount of shot attempts a team is taking while a particular player is on the ice. The D pairing of Fox and Miller that played 65 games together last season finished sixth in Corsi For percentage (CF %) among pairings who logged a minimum 100 minutes of ice time with a 62.05 CF %. The D pairing that Gavrikov was on for 79 games last season, alongside Jordan Spence came in seventh with a CF % of 61.97. That’s not a big difference, but the plus/minus was.
What’s Next for the Rangers
Overall, the Rangers get a bonafide steady shut-down defenseman to pair with Fox who could use the help in his own end. The downside of the signing is the number of years. Gavrikov will be 36 by the time the deal is over and may not age well because he plays 23 minutes a night. But for now, the Rangers have upgraded their blue line and added a 29-year-old veteran stay at home defenseman who is still in his prime to a blue line that contains four players under the age of 30: Braden Schneider, Urho Vaakanainen, Adam Fox and Will Borgen. Carson Soucy is the only defenseman on the Rangers who is over 30 and he is only 30. Gavrikov will be on the Rangers top D pairing next season and will be a key piece that Mike Sullivan will relish the opportunity to work with.
