The New York Rangers have reportedly signed free agent defenceman Vladislav Gavrikov.
The Rangers get their shutdown defenceman of the future as they signed Vladislav Gavrikov, according to multiple reports. His new contract will be for seven years at an annual cap hit of $7 million per season.
Many teams were contending for one of the league's most elite defensive defenceman with the Rangers prevailing. New York's new defensive anchor will make them a solid contender for a potential value bet to make the postseason next year as they were a top contender a couple years ago and still have all their pieces to win.
Gavrikov is criminally underrated after posting a +26 plus/minus, which ranked among the top 12 in the NHL. He averaged just over 23 minutes per game, the second most on the Kings, and led the team in blocked shots with 140, which ranked 36th in the league.
He also logged the third most shorthanded minutes across the NHL, at almost 270 minutes on the kill, underlining his value as one of the league's best penalty killers.