MTPS: Is Gavrikov Returning to Los Angeles?

Blink, and you would have missed it. At about the 12 minute mark, guest John Hoven of MayorsManor.com drops this line when discussing potential additions to the Los Angeles Kings defense.

“I’m going to throw a name at you. Don’t be surprised if you see Gavrikov back in Los Angeles this summer.”

Jonny Lazarus also weighed in:

On some level, it makes absolutely no sense. Why would Vladislav Gavrikov, who turned down a contract extension from the Kings, now opt to waive his no-movement clause to return to the Kings?

On the other hand, there are threads to pull at here. Gavrikov signed with the New York Rangers under very different circumstances than the ones he now finds himself. The team was coming off a rough year, but with the hiring of Mike Sullivan, and a full season of J.T. Miller, they were expecting to be back in the playoff hunt. Now the team is six months into a retooling plan and the player who helped recruit Gavrikov to the Rangers—Artemi Panarin—is on the Kings.

This is all happening on the heels of players like Dylan Larkin and Darnell Nurse asking for trades, and insiders suggesting that players around the league may seek to take greater ownership of their futures by similarly requesting deals. With all of that being the case, sure, I can see a world in which Gavrikov decides he wants to go back to Los Angeles, play with his buddy Panarin, and rejoin a franchise that may have a better shot of making the playoffs than the Rangers next year.

Know what? I don't care. I truly don't. Whether it's Gavrikov, Adam Fox, J.T. Miller, Igor Shesterkin, Mike Sullivan, if they don't want to be here...

I just watched a New York Knicks team that was single-minded in their buy-in regarding the mission and the culture win the team's first title in over half a century. If there are players here who aren't committed to what the team is trying to do, they don't have to be here.

Now look, before you start posting, "Chip is back defending Drury again," I'm not. I don't know that Drury will get this righ. But I do know that, for now, owner James Dolan is going to give him the opportunity to get it right, and that means that the players who are here have to be willing to buy into the direction of the team for this to work. If they're not, then it is the players who have to go.

So, back to Gavrikov. What would a trade that sends him back to Los Angeles look like? Well, it's complicated.

Vlad, like Panarin before him, has a complete no-movement clause, which means you're not going to get full value on the deal. If the player makes it impossible to start a bidding war, then you're not going to get a team's best offer. Gavrikov also has a lot of term left on his contract for a player in his 30s, so that too could depress the return a bit. Would a deal built around L.A.'s first round pick (17 overall), the Columbus Blue Jackets' second round pick (46 overall), and Joel Edmundson (two years left at $3.85 million AAV) be a reasonable return? Maybe.

But maybe it could be better (or bigger).

Back to Jonny:

Could a deal that sends both Vincent Trocheck and Vladislav Gavrikov to Los Angeles be a thing that happens?