Who's your 2nd goalie in that situation? Only Copley is currently signed.

More moves are coming, we just gotta wait to see what Blake does. I'm VERY curious how he is setting up for the draft. I'm currently assuming two of Arvy, Iafallo, Grundstrom and Durzi are gone for assets.

We are going to see more unorthodox short term contracts from players approaching UFA status.

The cap is going to explode once escrow is paid off. As of now, that is projected to be in 2 seasons.

If the escrow debt is not repaid by the end of this season, the salary cap would rise $1 million next season and instead increase significantly for the 2024-25 season, when the debt would be fully paid off. (https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-salary-cap-could-increase-by-at-least-4-million-in-2023-24/c-336522332)

If Gavrikov maintains his level of play, he will get 8x8 next time around. For contracts signed in the last year or two, it seems like 6 or so million is the ceiling for a player perceived to be a top pairing D but not a superstar or franchise player (Weegar, Lindholm, Sanheim, Klingberg (the contract Dallas offered him that he turned down), Pulock, Eckholm, etc. There might be a few exceptions.

If 2 years from now, the cap rises close to or above 90 million, teams will go on spending sprees. They never learn. If I am a star UFA who has already made a bit of money, I'm signing 2-4 years max and trying to hit free agency again by 29 years of age or younger.

The only upside with this for LAK is that if Gavrikov takes a step back, they aren't stuck with the contract long term. With that said, risk goes both ways. If Gavrikov continues to cement himself as a top pairing defender, he will cost them significantly more to re-sign in 2 years. An 8 year deal right now would have probably been in the low 6M. The fact that they gave him max signing bonuses and a NMC says they really like the player, so I doubt they are happy to take on the risk of losing him or having to pay him significantly more in 2 seasons.

I know he and Roy were good together but only 2 years at that price is a bit of a yikes

Would have did 4.6mill x 2 years

If he wanted that money would have said okay 4 years.

I was wrong and our friend @McSorley was right . . . there's still another move that has to be made.

Overpayment in terms and structure, but the cap hit is market value for a defenseman who is deployed like Gavrikov. Whether you think he is actually effective as a top pairing defenseman is a different discussion, but someone playing 21-22 minutes against top competition as a shutdown defenseman is a 6 or so million dollar defenseman as a UFA.

There are always going to be exceptions, like Zub signing for 4.6M, but Zub also hasn't had to play as tough of a role as Gavrikov did on Columbus. Zub also likely gets north of 5M if he tests free agency like Gavrikov basically did (he didn't technically hit the market, but what he signed for was informed by the season being over and free agency being weeks away).

The rumored reason Columbus couldn't get a deal done with him was term. Everyone assumed Gav wanted more term than CBJ were willing to give, but apparently it was the other way around. Either that or he had a change of stance after realizing he wasn't going to get a Provorov-type contract at 6.7m for 6 years.

I like the move by the Kings. Gavrikov is a very good defenseman and that's a pretty fair contract with a relatively short term and would be easy to move if they decide to switch course before the trade deadline in the 24-25 season

The number should be closer to the High 4's and 5 imo, but I think what really makes it a bad signing is they paid draft capital to make it, after already paying to trade for him.

Columbus is considered an undesirable location for most players. It might as well be in Canada. Players usually leak or spin things to make it seem like it wasn't their choice to leave. Every player who doesn't re-sign does the meme interview before forcing a trade where they say that they hope ownership can get something done to keep them there.

I have read the reports you're referring to, but I guess the point is that we should always take that sort of thing with a grain of salt. It might have just been a convenient reason to turn down a deal without having to say "I would prefer to live somewhere else", which the fans will hear as "I hate Columbus as a city and want to personally offend you."

I AM STILL MAD ABOUT THE TRADE

AND I WILL CONTINUE TO BE MAD UNTIL I GO IN THE GODDAMN GRAVE

If he was going to sign forthis term and this amount of money, and he liked being in Columbus, THEN WHY THE F*CK DID HE NOT SIGN IN COLUMBUS

There is nothing about Columbus that makes it a unique destination, but that is far different from saying it is undesirable.

Many players have come back to retire in Columbus after their playing days because it is clean, growing, has diverse culture, decent arts scene and is generally considered a great place to raise a family. It doesn't have a beach, or mountains, or world-class chefs and clubs, so I totally understand that it's not for everyone. Its isn't really desirable or undesirable, it's just a nice, normal city, and I don't fault anyone for wanting to go anywhere else. All people are different people and have their own preferences and priorities.

Maybe what you're saying is actually the case and he didn't want to re-sign so he said one thing to the media and told his agent another. That's purely an assumption though without any facts to support it, so I'm not going to go there.

Settle down. Mad over Gavi? He was solid, a good defender. Nothing special. We traded up with Provorov.

Specific players liking Columbus is not an argument against it not being an ideal destination.

Ottawa is a nice city, but they as a Canadian city they have a difficult time attracting players. There are some players like Erik Karlsson who end up loving it here, and choose to make it their permanent home even after leaving but that doesn't invalidate the former from being true. They are not mutually exclusive.

This is not a narrative that I am making up. I am not taking shots at Columbus to be a jerk. It's a big enough story that if you google 'players don't want to play in columbus nhl' the first page will be loaded with legitimate articles discussing the issue.

Betting on yourself like that is a huge risk. I remember when Klingberg thought the same and went from turning down a 8 year deal at 7M to settling for a 1 year 7M a year later.

Difference is he went to an absolute ****ter of a team. Gavi is signing with a playoff team. Gavi will look fine in LA

He was still on Dallas lol.

Does this mean goodbye to Korpisalo???

He was on the Ducks tho lol. That is where he signed his "prove it" deal. LA >>>>>> Garbage >>>>> Ducks

No he wasn't.

He was offered that deal before the start of the season with Dallas. Not during free agency. He believed he would get more in FA next summer. His prove it year was his last year in Dallas. His value was no where close to what he thought it was which led to him signing a 1 year deal with a ****ty team. He ended up firing his agents.

That's the rumor that is circulating today.

I know it's prohibited in the CBA but I wouldn't be surprised if they already set an agreement for a 8 year deal in summer 2024 with a lower aav

Maybe you misread my comment. I tried to say pretty clearly that I understand that there is nothing special about Columbus that makes it a unique destination for players. It's just simply a nice city and good place to live, like many others. I have no issue with players choosing to play somewhere else. The issue I have is with the language "undesirable", which insinuates that there is something wrong about it. Everyone has personal preferences, and I fully expect many players to choose other destination cities for their special attractions, like a beach, or a massive city or nightlife. That's totally fine. That is very different than Columbus being "undesirable".

Only two things I can guess

1) He thinks cap is going up and can get a second under 30 contract in such an environment. ie betting on himself

2) Perhaps he wants to go back to russia in a couple years?

seems odd.