Story by
Rangers land prized defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov in NHL free agency
- Story by
- Rangers land prized defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov in NHL free agency
Ryan Sun-Imagn Images Ryan Sun-Imagn Images
After a largely quiet offseason to this point, the New York Rangers made a big splash when the NHL free-agent market opened Tuesday, signing defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to a reported seven-year, $49 million contract ($7 million average annual value).
Though a significant investment, Gavrikov's contract is a relative bargain on the open market. Gavrikov was clearly the best defenseman available after Aaron Ekblad ( Florida Panthers ) and Ivan Provorov ( Columbus Blue Jackets ) re-signed with their teams before July 1.
Advertisement
By comparison, Provorov, who's also a left-shot, top-four defenseman, will get $8.5 million annually on his new deal with Columbus. That Gavrikov took $1.5 million less per year shows his desire to play for the Rangers
The rugged 29-year-old is a perfect fit for the Rangers, who were desperate to add a steady, reliable, physical left-shot d-man to play in their top four. It's expected that Gavrikov, who averaged a career-high 23:05 TOI with the Los Angeles Kings last season, will team up with Adam Fox on the Rangers top pair. Fox's longtime partner, Ryan Lindgren , was traded to the Colorado Avalanche last season and is an unrestricted free agent.
Now, the Rangers must decide what to do with K'Andre Miller. The 25-year-old is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, and the Rangers have been looking to trade him all offseason, but have yet to do so. They are reluctant to sign Miller to a long-term, big-money deal due to his inconsistent play, and now have very little salary cap space to keep him.
There are several reports Tuesday that the Rangers are closing in on a trade that would send Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes .
Advertisement
The Rangers entered Tuesday with approximately $13 million in cap space , before signing Gavrikov, and still needing to re-sign RFA forward Will Cuylle , who's due a sizeable raise after scoring 20 goals and finishing tied for third in the NHL with 301 hits last season, and Miller or his possible replacement.
MORE TO COME
Related Headlines
