Los Angeles Kings’ Vladislav Gavrikov leaves game with lower-body injury

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov left Sunday night’s game against the New York Rangers with a lower-body injury.

Gavrikov logged seven shifts and 6:36 minutes of ice time.

He briefly left last night’s game against the New York Islanders following a knee-on-knee collision with Anders Lee but ultimately returned.

This season, Gavrikov has tallied three goals and six assists for nine points in 23 games. He has racked up 34 blocked shots and 12 hits while averaging 20:32 of ice time while playing on the second pairing with Matt Roy.

The Kings acquired Gavrikov as part of a blockbuster trade last season that also brought goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to L.A. and sent franchise legend and goalie Jonathan Quick to the Columbus Blue Jackets along with the Kings’ 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick. Gavrikov signed a two-year, $11,750,000 million extension with the Kings prior to the 2023-24 season. The contract carries an average annual value of $5.875 million.

The 28-year-old was initially drafted No. 159 overall in the sixth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the Blue Jackets. Gavrikov spent four seasons in Russia’s KHL, where he marked himself as one of the top defenders. He officially made his NHL debut during the 2019-20 regular season where he registered 18 points in 69 games. Gavrikov has appeared in 300 career regular season games where he has tallied 91 points, 456 blocked shots and 358 hits with the Blue Jackets and Kings.

Internationally, Gavrikov has represented Russia on multiple occasions and captured an Olympic Gold Medal with Russia in 2017-18. He has also won a Silver medal at the World Juniors and a Bronze medal at the World Championships.

The Kings will likely provide an update on Gavrikov in the coming days.