The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed defenceman Vladislav Gavrikov. The new contract will the 24-year-old through 2022-23 and carry an annual cap hit of $2.8 million. Agent Dan Milstein announced the deal early Thursday afternoon.
Vladislav Gavrikov signs 3 year extension with the Columbus Blue Jackets! #WeAreGoldStar! pic.twitter.com/WVABg1KpFk
— Dan Milstein-Hockey (@HockeyAgent1) November 5, 2020
Blue Jackets Re-Sign Vladislav Gavrikov
Gavrikov had a solid rookie season for Columbus in 2019-20. He scored five goals and 18 points in 69 games while averaging 18:59 of ice time per game. His 49 percent Corsi For won’t jump out at fans, but that is just .3 percent worse than star defender Seth Jones. Gavrikov also posted 79 hits and 92 blocks thanks to plenty of defensive zone starts and opportunity with the penalty-killing units. His 1:28 with the man-disadvantage was tenth on the team and fifth among Blue Jackets defenders.
Columbus originally drafted Gavrikov in the sixth round of the 2015 Draft, but he remained in Russia until 2018-19. Otherwise, the 6′-3″, 213-pound blueliner had 16 goals and 48 points in 206 games spread across two KHL clubs. Those are obviously not outstanding numbers, but the KHL often uses young defencemen far less often than North America teams do. He is more interesting if you look at three goals and 11 points 35 playoff games. That seems like an indicator of more potential overall.
What This Means for the Future
Gavirkov is probably going to start on the team’s second defensive pairing in 2020-21. He doesn’t have a wealth of NHL experience yet, but there’s nothing suggesting he can’t be a good option in that role next to someone like David Savard, who is easily the team’s most physical defender. That pairing might allow the younger Gavrikov more freedom to try and score.
Columbus still has plenty of money if they want to make one more move. The Gavrikov deal leaves them with $9.22 million worth of cap space. A significant chunk of that will go towards star Pierre-Luc Dubois, but someone like Mikael Granlund or Mike Hoffman could still be options if the price is right.
