Blue Jackets lock up Gavrikov with 3-year, $8.4M contract

The Columbus Blue Jackets signed defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to a three-year agreement carrying an annual cap hit of $2.8 million, the team announced Thursday.

Gavrikov made his NHL debut last season and tallied 18 points in 69 games while averaging about 19 minutes of ice time per contest. The 6-foot-3, 213-pound rearguard was deployed primarily in a shutdown role alongside veteran David Savard. He performed well at five-on-five and on the penalty kill despite the tough matchups, as evidenced by HockeyViz's isolated impact:

Positive is good in the offensive zone (top row), negative is good in the defensive zone and penalty kill (bottom row).

"Vladimir Gavrikov was everything we hoped he would be during his rookie season last year, establishing himself as a top-four defenseman in the National Hockey League," said Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen. "He is still a young player that we expect will get better every year and continue to be an important part of our blue line."

Drafted by the Blue Jackets in the sixth round in 2015, Gavrikov spent five seasons in the KHL before joining Columbus for his age-24 campaign.

The Blue Jackets have $9.2 million remaining in projected cap space, per CapFriendly, but still have to sign fellow restricted free agent Pierre-Luc Dubois.