June 30th: The Rangers have officially registered Dorofeyev’s new seven-year, $77MM extension with the organization. Vince E. Mercogliano of The Athletic added that Dorofeyev will have a full no-movement clause in the final five years of the deal (he’s not eligible for protection in the first two years), and a partial no-trade clause in the final two years. Essentially, the Rangers will never have the option of placing Dorofeyev on waivers or demoting him throughout the life of the contract, but will have the option of trading him to his preferred destination in the final two years of the deal should they want to.
June 26th: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the New York Rangers are finalizing a deal to acquire Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights. Dorofeyev is expected to become a restricted free agent in a few short days with arbitration rights. Furthermore, Mollie Walker of the New York Post shared that the Golden Knights will receive Dallas’ 2026 first-round pick (26th overall), Buffalo’s 2026 third-round pick (92nd overall), and a top-10 protected 2028 first-round pick.
This move will soon come with a long-term extension for the scoring winger. Dorofeyev and the Rangers are working on a seven-year deal in the range of $77MM, or $11MM per season, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Dorofeyev becomes the latest consequence of the Golden Knights’ lack of cap space. Vegas only has $4.6MM available as they head into the offseason, and with the team reportedly prioritizing an extension with Rasmus Andersson, there was little chance of being able to afford Dorofeyev, too.
Make no mistake, the expectation is that Dorofeyev will get paid this summer. After primarily serving as a high-level AHL talent and secondary scorer in the NHL level, the former third-round pick burst onto the scene during the 2024-25 campaign. In an explosive showing of offense, Dorofeyev scored 35 goals and 52 points in 82 games for the Golden Knights with a +2 rating.
Although some believed that it was just a one-year showing of offense, Dorofeyev followed it up with another impressive season, scoring 37 goals and 64 points in 82 games this past season.
However, as impressive as Dorofeyev’s scoring output has been, there are some reasons for pause. Of his 72 goals the past two years, nearly half of them have come on the powerplay. That’s not to say that Dorofeyev isn’t good at scoring goals, but if he goes on a cold streak with a man advantage, his production could crater.
Still, even though they had a disappointing regular season, the Rangers’ powerplay wasn’t the issue. Assistant coach David Quinn continued as a special teams guru, stewarding New York’s powerplay to a 24.65% success rate, good for fifth in the league.
If Dorofeyev ends up being on the Rangers’ first powerplay unit, and there’s no reason to think he won’t, the team shouldn’t have any issues with his production.
Now, for Vegas. In this case, discussing the return package does not apply. There are few teams more averse to keeping draft capital than the Golden Knights.
Perpetually in win-now mode, the odds are high that the Golden Knights won’t keep any of these draft selections and use them to procure Dorofeyev’s replacement on the trade market. Still, 30-goal scorers don’t go on trees, and especially ones cheap enough for Vegas to afford. Simply put, the abnormally aggressive Golden Knights likely have another move or two up their sleeves.
Photo courtesy of Bob Frid of Imagn Images.
