It was pretty obvious who Chris Drury wanted the moment the Rangers traded K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes last July. He wanted Vladislav Gavrikov, and eventually, he got him.
Miller was drafted and developed by the organization, and despite all the inconsistency, there remained an upside. Yet the Rangers clearly prioritized stability over projection. That’s why they turned around and handed Gavrikov a seven-year, $49 million contract in free agency.
Miller could dominate offensively, but wasn’t steady defensively. So, the 30 year-old Russian from the Los Angeles Kings was brought in because the Rangers desperately needed a calming presence on the back end to partner with Adam Fox. The expectation was never that Gavrikov would light up the scoresheet. If he could serve as a safety net, stabilize the left side, and help fix a subpar penalty kill, that alone would’ve qualified as a successful season.
Instead, he gave the Rangers even more than that. Fox missed 27 games due to injury, which complicated things throughout the year, but when those two were together, the Blueshirts looked stable. They controlled over 55 percent of shot attempts at even strength together, and more importantly, they passed the eye test. This was a disastrous season from top to bottom, but Gavrikov was a rare bright spot.
Things got shakier when Gavrikov was paired with Braden Schneider during Fox’s absences. That duo struggled to suppress chances and spent a plethora of time defending. Still, it’s unfair to say Gavrikov was simply riding Fox’s coattails. Even individually, his overall possession numbers remained solid despite the circumstances around him, and he quietly adapted to one of the heaviest workloads of his career.
He played all 82 games, led the team in ice time, anchored the penalty kill, and even saw extended power-play usage, which was something almost nobody expected coming into the year. His 102 blocked shots ranked second on the team behind Schneider, and while his defense wasn’t flawless, it was steady enough to let Fox impose his offensive talents again, and remind everyone why he’d considered a top 10 blueliner in the league.
Season Grade: A
Gavrkov finished with 14 goals and 35 points, both career highs. Eleven of those goals came at even strength, which makes fans dream of what can be when the ship around him is righted. Nobody signed Gavrikov expecting offense like that. The Blueshirts signed him to defend, be a minute-muncher, and bring structure. Instead, he became one of the few genuinely reliable two-way players on the roster.
For a team that finished near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, it’s difficult to put much blame on him at all. Gavrikov fit the role Drury envisioned when he reshaped the blue line last summer, and in a season filled with turmoil, he was one of the few players who consistently delivered exactly what was asked of him.
What’s Next?
Gavrikov is no longer viewed as simply a defensive specialist. Now, the Rangers will expect him to continue playing as a legitimate top-pair defenseman capable of contributing in all situations. The encouraging part is that his game should age relatively well. The 6’3 191- pound blueliner doesn’t rely on elite skating or overwhelming offensive creativity to succeed. His value comes from positioning, awareness, physicality, and decision-making. Those traits that tend to remain effective over time even as the star ages.
Most importantly, the Rangers now have clarity on one thing, and it’s Gavrikov being part of the solution. In a season where so much around the organization felt uncertain, his first year on Broadway gave the Blueshirts a dependable foundation piece on the back end moving forward.
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