The first thing the Los Angeles Kings need to do this offseason is make a decision on Vladislav Gavrikov. Their top defenseman is set to be a free agent on July 1st but according to reports the Kings are going to try their best to not let that happen.
Recently, James Mirtle with The Athletic (subscription required) reported that the Kings were prepared to offer a max-term contract with an average annual value of over $8.5 million. This would mean that the Kings could offer an extra year, and in total, it would be an eight-year deal since Gavrikov would be re-signing with his former team.
If Gavrikov were to sign a deal with an AAV of $8.5 million it would be tied for 15th with Mikhail Sergachev of the Utah Mammoth and Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild. However, the difference is that Gavrikov is 29 years old while Sergachev and Faber are 24 and 21 years old respectively.
Does the increase in the salary cap factor into the decision for the LA Kings?
One thing that Mirtle notes in his report is that the rising salary cap could play a role in what the Kings are willing to offer. The salary cap is expected to make significant jumps over the next three years, starting with this season, and the Kings have over $21 million in cap space.
The reason this matters is that an AAV of $8.5 million last season would have counted around 9.6% of a team's salary cap. However, when it is expected to be $113.5 million for the 2027-28 season then that percentage drops to 7.5%.
That is a significant difference for teams as they try to decide how to manage their salary cap and it makes a contract for a player like Vladislav Gavrikov much more managable. As the salary cap grows, so will the contracts and $8.5 million for a player of Gavrikov's talent might be able to command higher than that AAV.
There is no question that the Kings made a mistake by not getting the deal with Vladislav Gavrikov done sooner, but they don't want to compound that by losing him entirely this summer as they try to get closer to a Stanley Cup.