Count John Scott as a big fan of what the New York Rangers accomplished this offseason. The former NHL enforcer believes the Rangers vastly improved their defense corps with two major moves — trading K’Andre Miller and signing free-agent Vladislav Gavrikov.
In fact, Scott tied the pair of moves into one because one wouldn’t have happened without the other. So, he sees trading Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes as a 4-for-1 winner in the Rangers favor.
“That’s insane. I don’t think people realize how good that is,” Scott raved on a recent Dropping the Gloves podcast. “[Rangers general manager Chris Drury] turned K’Andre Miller into Gavrikov, a first [round draft pick], a second, and a prospect, Scott Morrow, who could potentially crack the lineup this year for the New York Rangers.”
Scott called Gavrikov an “incredible defensemen.” The 29-year-old signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Rangers on July 1 after he was the top defenseman one on of the League’s best defensive teams (the Los Angeles Kings) last season.
Considering the Rangers were, in Scott’s words, “horrendous in their D zone” in 2024-25, it was clear their biggest need was finding a stud defender to stabilize things in their own end. Gavrikov was their No. 1 target, and landing him was a coup in Scott’s opinion.
Though there’s some speculation about whether coach Mike Sullivan will put Gavrikov immediately on the top pair with Adam Fox, or choose to try out a shutdown second pair with Gavrikov and Will Borgen, remains to be seen in training camp. But Scott leaves little doubt about where he thinks Gavrikov will play.
“Adam Fox will be paired with him. They will play 25 minutes a game and they will be very, very good. They will be downright scary to play against,” the former Rangers forward said confidently. “Gavrikov will be that security blanket. Fox will be able to roam, and Fox is a good defensive defenseman too, don’t get me wrong. So, this is a very scary pairing. I like this. And you have a coach in Mike Sullivan who knows how to deploy them.”
Related: How Vladislav Gavrikov fits Rangers shift to ‘quieter’ defense
John Scott declares Rangers did right trading ‘completely uncoachable’ K’Andre Miller
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So, sold on Gavrikov is Scott that he said the newcomer is a “massive upgrade on Ryan Lindgren,” Fox’s longtime defense partner. And that’s after Scott detailed how the Lindgren-Fox pair was one of the best in the League for several years.
The Rangers traded Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche ahead of the deadline in his walk year last March. Lindgren signed a four-year, $18 million contract with the Seattle Kraken on July 1.
They could’ve re-signed Miller, who was a pending RFA with arbitration rights and possibly partnered him with Fox moving forward. But the Rangers instead traded him, opting to sign Gavrikov instead.
Scott is onboard with that plan. Especially because of the many deficiencies he sees in Miller’s game.
“K’Andre Miller, and I’m going to be kind here because he’s still relatively young and maybe he’s got a high ceiling, last year was garbage,” Scott explained. “They guy turns the puck over all the time and he’s lost in the defensive zone. He is completely uncoachable, from my standpoint. … He gets out of position all the time. … He gets jittery when he’s under pressure.”
Clearly the Hurricanes don’t agree. They signed the 25-year-old to an eight-year, $60 million contract, that pays him $500,000 more per season than the Rangers gave Gavrikov.
The fact that the Rangers and Hurricanes are Metropolitan Division rivals makes this a juicy sublot to follow. Not only this season, but for years to come.
And we’ll see if it’s as one-sided a victory for the Rangers as Scott claims it is right now.
Jim Cerny is Executive Editor at Forever Blueshirts and Managing Editor at Sportsnaut, with more than 30 years of … More about Jim Cerny
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