Done Deal: Kings Re-Sign Gavrikov

After a big trade on Tuesday and rumors of an extension being ironed out Tuesday night.

The Los Angeles Kings and Vladislav Gavrikov have agreed to a contract.

Gavrikov is reportedly signing for two years at $5.875 million per year.

This comes in a little under the $6-7 million range that was reported on Tuesday night but is still a pretty high cap hit for Gavrikov.

He’s a second-pairing defenseman who proved he can’t handle any more than second-pair minutes. However, he also proved that he excels in that second-pair role.

Gavrikov formed an excellent partnership with Matt Roy down the stretch and the two posted fantastic results.

The sample size was small, but they led the Kings in most statistical categories. And continued to play well into the postseason.

This solidifies the Kings top-four for next season and even with Roy’s contract set to expire next summer, I think it solidifies the top-four for the next two seasons.

Even if Roy doesn’t come back, the Kings have an abundance of right-shot defensemen to take his spot. With stability on the left in Gavrikov, the Kings top-four will be fine.

Back to the cap-hit, if this was as deal with significant term, I would be concerned about it. But at just two years, $5.875 seems fair. The AAV always goes up with shorter term.

This deal takes Gavrikov to 30 years old, so there shouldn’t be any concern about regression in the next two seasons either.

The Kings signed a solid second-pair defensemen, who fits their system perfectly at a reasonable cost.

Overall, a very solid signing from Rob Blake.

Now he just has to work on signing Gabe Vilardi and Joonas Korpisalo.