Chris Drury is typically reserved in his expressions, but he made a significant statement during a Zoom news briefing on Wednesday. The Rangers general manager was questioned about their decision to pursue Vladislav Gavrikov when the free agent market opened at noon on Tuesday.
“We’ve admired Gavvy for quite some time, noticing his play with Columbus and LA. The qualities he will contribute to our defense for many years have us thrilled,” Drury commented on the 29-year-old, 6-foot-3, 220-pound left-handed player who agreed to a seven-year contract with an average annual value of $7 million. “He’s an impressive shutdown defenseman with the characteristics of a top-tier defensive player.”
OK, that was pretty routine and boilerplate stuff. What came a few minutes later was not that at all.
“The starting point for me is in our defensive zone,” the GM explained. “Covering our defensive zone and ensuring solid defense, especially in high-risk areas, was a weakness for us last year. Improving in our zone and providing better protection in front of [goalies Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick] is essential.”
“And that’s the mindset [Gavrikov] shows up with every single day. The size, the reach, the competitiveness, the way he defends, the way he’s able to complement his partner, that’s what excited of all of in targeting this player. We’re thrilled to have him as a key part of the D-corps.”
Defense, defense, defense will be incoming head coach Mike Sullivan and the staff’s first, second and third priority after the Blueshirts bled out in their own end a year ago with metrics that universally ranked in the league’s nether regions.
Drury would not usurp Sullivan’s right to make out the lineup card, so he did not state that Gavrikov was brought here to partner with Adam Fox on the first pair.
But that is also exactly why Gavrikov was brought here. They did not invest $49 million in Gavrikov so he could play on the second unit. If there is one combination that can be etched into stone for October, it will be Gavrikov and Fox on the first pair.
Drury addressed the trades of both Chris Kreider and K’Andre Miller, the latter sent to Carolina on Tuesday on a sign-and-trade in which the Blueshirts got a 2026 first- and second-rounder plus 22-year-old right defenseman Scott Morrow while the one-time No. 79 got an eight-year, $60 million deal ($7.5M per) from Carolina.
Or, as the 25-year-old Miller said on a Zoom call hosted by the Canes, “It was a great day for me and my family — life changing.
“Me and my mom are not only set for life, but extremely happy for the position we are in.”
The Rangers did not feel comfortable committing to Miller long term and it was unrealistic for him to play on a one-year contract. As with the Kreider scenario, we’re told that Drury and Miller’s camp were in constant communication over the past month. According to a source, “It was never adversarial.”
“There are a lot of moving parts to every situation and for this one as well. K’Andre is a terrific young player, but I think when you have a young player a year or a couple of years away from [unrestricted] free agency, it’s not always the easiest thing to come to an agreement for a long-term contract,” Drury said. “We just felt at this time it was best to allow him to explore another opportunity and it kind of came together.”
Speaking publicly for the first time since Kreider was sent to Anaheim on June 12, the GM did not get into the weeds of why the club’s longest-tenured player was sent away other than alluding to cap constraints.
“A Rangers legend in every way and I can’t thank him enough for all his contributions on and off the ice,” Drury said of the franchise’s third all-time leading goal scorer (336). “He will always be a Ranger in my eyes and I think in a lot of our fans’ eyes as well.”
The Blueshirts have approximately $1.5 million in space with a 22-man shadow roster (13+7+2) that includes Taylor Raddysh, the 27-year-old winger who signed a two-year free agent deal worth $1.5 million per after spending the season with Washington. Raddysh will likely enter camp with a leg up on young’uns Brett Berard and Brennan Othmann as a third-liner.
The roster also includes Scott Morrow, the 22-year-old right defenseman who came back in the deal for Miller and does not include Matthew Robertson. The composition of the defense — ideally, Braden Schneider and Will Borgen on the second pair with Carson Soucy or Urho Vaakanainen with Morrow on the third pair — will be determined at camp.
And the roster will be impacted by the decision whether to deploy Mika Zibanejad on the right or stack centers J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck and Zibanejad. If No. 93 is on the right, then the third-line center position likely will be contested between Juuso Parssinen, Brendan Brisson and perhaps Dylan Roobroeck. But if Zibanejad is in the middle, there will be an opportunity for Gabe Perreault or another younger prospect to earn a top six spot on right wing.
The Rangers don’t have meaningful enough cap space to do much other than fiddle on the margins. Maybe there will be a training camp tryout or two.
So what you see is pretty much what you’ll get. And regardless who goes where with whom, it will all start with the back end.
