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For a fourth straight season, the Los Angeles Kings lost in the first round to the Edmonton Oilers. They have already made offseason moves, as the Kings have brought in Ken Holland as the new GM. Holland will have plenty of decisions to make this offseason. One of those decisions is the future of Valdislav Gavrikov. We look at the three best destinations for Gavrikov in this 2025 NHL free agency period.
Gavrikov is coming off one of his best seasons as an NHL player. He scored five times while adding 25 assists, giving him 30 total points. Further, his plus/minus rating of +26 was by far the best of his career. He also averaged 23:05 minutes of ice time this year, the most in his NHL career as well.
Gavrikov is coming off a contract that made him $5.875 million per year, and he is expected to get a nice pay raise. Current projections have his next contract holding an AAV of $7.6 million per year. Still, he is a top-two defender for most rosters and has a solid left-handed shot. He also turns just 30 years old this season, making him someone who can be relied on well into the future.
The King stays home
Before the end of the season, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Kings would re-sign Gavrikov, but the bringing in of a new GM has brought that into question. Gavrikov is coming off his best season as a professional, but one of the major reasons he was brought in was to advance the Kings in the playoffs. The Kings have been eliminated by the Oilers three straight years, all with Gavrikov on the roster. Further, he has not had a positive plus/minus rating in each of the last two postseasons, facing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
There are also the cap implications for bringing back Gavrikov. First, he will most likely cost over $7.5 million to bring back. The Kings have just $24.25 million of cap space to work with. They also have Jordan Spence on the roster, who often pairs with Gavrikov. Spence is a young player and will be a restricted free agent at the end of next year. The Kings would like to bring him back, so they have to be concerned about the future cap as well. Further, another major piece in Andrei Kuzmenko is also a free agent. Bringing back both players could be difficult for the Kings to do.
Utah makes a mammoth move
The Utah Hockey Club has rebranded as the Utah Mammoth and now looks to make a playoff push this year. First, Utah needs some help on both the power play and the penalty kill. Utah was tenth on the power play this past year. Mikhail Sergachev was solid on the first power-play unit, but Gavrikov would be an upgrade over Sean Durzi on the second unit. Further, Utah was 15th on the penalty kill. He could be an upgrade over Durzi on the top penalty kill unit, or could move to replace Nick DeSimone on the second unit.
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This would also give Utah an interesting situation with their defensive pairings. Utah could move Gavrikov to the top pairing with Sergachev and make one of the best pairings in the NHL. They could also have him play in the second unit, giving elite defenders on two units. The Mammoth are projected to have $21.4 million in cap space this year. Still, they have much of their roster under contract. While another solid defender would be a luxurious upgrade, the Mammoth have the money to do it.
Finally, Gavrikov would give the Mammoth playoff experience. They have a young roster, with only Sergachev having major playoff experience. Gavrikov has been to the playoffs five times in his NHL career, and while the last three years have not gone well, he does have experience to share with future teammates
Gavrikov heads north
The Ottawa Senators made the playoffs this year for the first time since 2017. They were eliminated in the first round by the Maple Leafs and wasted no time in the offseason. They have signed Nikolas Matinpalo to an extension already this offseason. Still, while they just signed a third-pairing defenseman to an extension, they could still use an upgrade on defense overall. Their current top four defensemen are all under contract, and Tyler Kleven is a restricted free agent. Still, they need help in a few areas, which would make running back the same defense not the best decision.
First, the Senators were 13th in the NHL in goals against per game. While that is not horrible, an improvement there could get them out of the first round. They were also 12th on the power play. Gavrikov may not be an improvement over Thomas Chabot on the power play, but if Chabot or Jake Sanderson go down, he could fill in well. Finally, the Senators were not good on the penalty kill. They were 19th in the NHL on the penalty kill, and this would be a major place where Gavrikov could improve the roster.
Still, the Senators have just $17 million in cap space this year, plus they have players such as Claude Giroux and Adam Gaudette as free agents. Bringing in Gavrikov would be expensive and would most likely require them to move one of their current top four defensemen. Still, he would be a solid upgrade to the defense that could help the Senators contend in the East.
