Rangers land prized defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov in NHL free agency

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.
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 with Adam Fox on the Rangers’ top pair. Fox’s longtime partner, Ryan Lindgren, was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on March 1 and signed a four-year, $18 million contract with the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.
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.
The Rangers entered Tuesday with approximately $13 million in cap space, before signing Gavrikov, an re-upping RFA forward Will Cuylle on a two-year, $7.8 million deal.
Related: New York Rangers 2025 NHL free agency tracker: Latest signings, analysis, trades, rumors
Rangers sign top free-agent target Vladislav Gavrikov, upgrade defense corps

This is the latest — and most impactful — move since December to revamp the Rangers defense corps. The Rangers traded top-four defensemen Jacob Trouba and Lindgren last season, along with rookie d-man Victor Mancini. They also didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Zac Jones on Monday, allowing the 24-year-old to become an unrestricted free agent.
Since December, New York has added Will Borgen, Urho Vaakanainen, Calvin de Haan and Carson Soucy in trades, and now signed Gavrikov. All but de Haan, a UFA, remain on the roster. Fox and Braden Schneider round out the returning group, and Matthew Robertson could find his way on to the roster as a 6th/7th defenseman next season.
Gavrikov gives the Rangers an absolute thumper on the blue line, capable of bone-rattling hits, as well as quick passes out of the zone and a shut-down capability. He had 30 points (five goals, 25 assists) last season, second-most in his career behind the 33 points (five goals, 28 assists) he racked up with the Blue Jackets in 2021-22.
Originally a sixth-round pick (No. 159 overall) by the Blue Jackets in 2015, Gavrikov has 135 points (29 goals, 106 assists) and 194 penalty minutes in 435 NHL games. He has 29 games of experience in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Gavrikov is the first major addition to the Rangers roster since they failed to make the playoffs last season for the first time in four years. They did make one significant move in May, trading veteran forward Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks to free up $6.5 million in salary cap space.
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