NY Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan introduced in Tarrytown
Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan is introduced during a press conference at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, New York, May 8, 2025.
The Rangers have taken an important step toward retooling their defense.
The team agreed a seven-year, $49 million contract with free-agent defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov on July 1, as first reported by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. It will carry an average annual value of $7 million, which looks like a steal given the current state of the market.
The 29-year-old Russian was the top defenseman still available by the time the clock struck noon, leading many to believe he’d receive a bloated salary. Less than 24 hours earlier, the Columbus Blue Jackets handed out an $8.5 million AAV to to fellow left-handed D Ivan Provorov.
Many teams, including the Rangers, preferred Gavrikov, fueling belief he would command a contract of equal or higher value. But he took considerably less to come to New York, reinforcing widespread reports that this was his desired landing spot all along.
The Blueshirts are left with around $7 million in available cap space, with the ability to stretch that number by sending a young player or two to the minors.
Gavrikov should fortify the Rangers at a position where they have major holes. They were already thin before trading Ryan Lindgren in March and have been actively shopping restricted free agent K’Andre Miller, who team president Chris Drury has apparently decided will not be part of the long-term plan.
He preferred paying up for Gavrikov, who’s viewed as a more reliable option to play on the top pair alongside Adam Fox.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder has never eclipsed 33 points in a season, but his defensive metrics are among the NHL’s best. He posted an xGF of 55.72% or better in three seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, according to Evolving Hockey, including 57.19% with an average of just 1.61 goals against per 60 minutes at five-on-five during a standout 2024-25 campaign. Those numbers both ranked fifth among 126 defensemen who logged at least 1,000 minutes this past season. By comparison, Miller finished with a 48.29% xGF and 2.99 GA/60.
Team context should be considered, as well. The Kings ranked second in the league with a 54.85% xGF and 2.48 goals against per game, while the Rangers ranked 25th with a 47.73% xGF and 19th with 3.11 goals against per game. (The latter stat could have been much worse if not for the goaltending of Igor Shesterkin.)
Gavrikov didn’t grade out as highly before arriving in L.A. in 2023, never posting an xGF above 47.19% or a GA/60 below 3.02 in his final three seasons with the undermanned Columbus Blue Jackets.
It’s a reminder that analytics are strongly influenced by team structure, but Gavrikov was undoubtedly a critical cog for the Kings’ smothering defense. He averaged a career-high 23:05 time on ice per game last season, which ranked second on the team, and led all L.A. skaters in total penalty kill time.
Scouts and other sources describe him as big, strong and lanky − all traits the Rangers want more of on their back end − with excellent defensive positioning and ample physicality to clear the net front and move people around. He’s difficult to beat one-on-one and considered a better puck-mover than his counting stats might indicate. He also doesn’t make many mistakes, which will be a welcomed change after all of the glaring breakdowns New York dealt with last season.
Gavrikov will immediately make the Blueshirts better and steadier, but there’s potential downside on the back end of his contract. He’ll turn 30 in November and be approaching 37 by the time the deal expires.
The Rangers already have a collection of high-paid veterans under contract into their mid-to-late 30s, including J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad. Those deals rarely age well, but it’s the price of shopping in the UFA aisle.
Gavrikov’s contract includes a full no-movement clause for the first five seasons that will change to a 20-team no-trade list in Year 6 and a 15-team NTL in Year 7, according to PuckPedia. But this move is more about the present than the future, with Drury doing what he felt was necessary to patch up one of the NHL’s worst defenses.
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.