theathleticuk
TARRYTOWN, N.Y.
Theres been a theme with the players the New York Rangers have pursued this offseason.
They landed 25-year-old Pavel Dorofeyev in Fridays trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, adding a much-needed goal scorer to a roster thats struggled to generate consistent offense.
It required three draft picks to get him, including this years No.
26 overall selection and a top-10 protected first-rounder in 2028, plus a generous seven-year, $77 million extension that was formally agreed to Tuesday.
Advertisement The Russian winger is ineligible for any trade protection until 2028-29, at which point a full no-movement clause will kick in and be modified to add a partial no-trade list for the final two years of the deal, according to a league source who spoke anonymously to share unannounced details of the contract.
The Rangers see Dorofeyev as a franchise cornerstone at a time when president and general manager Chris Drury has been on the hunt for them.
Weve reported on his interest in Bowen Byram, Mason McTavish and Brady Tkachuk each of whom has been traded elsewhere in recent days while Elliotte Friedman mentioned Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin as another target on Mondays episode of 32 Thoughts.
What can we glean from that? All of those players are 26 or younger, highlighting Drurys preference to acquire talent that can contribute for several years to come.
The days of making long-term, short-sighted commitments to veterans with few prime seasons left appear to be wisely in the rearview mirror.
(At least for now.) Its not an easy objective, with many of those attempts falling short due to players preference to go to winning teams, New Yorks limited assets not aligning with what trade partners are looking for, or a combination of both.
But Drury was determined to make a splash and figured out a way to make it happen.
How did it come together? It started with finding a situation that would allow him to leverage his considerable salary cap space against a team that was feeling the crunch.
The Knights are sitting on just $4.625 million in available cap space, according to PuckPedia, and have prioritized re-signing unrestricted free agent defenseman Rasmus Andersson.
Theres not even enough room to do that at the moment, let alone pay a restricted free agent such as Dorofeyev the kind of raise hes earned by netting a total of 72 goals the last two seasons.
Advertisement Barring a trade that cleared substantial space, something had to give.
Even if the Knights did that, the path to a deal was filled with obstacles.
They werent willing to go anywhere near the $11 million average annual value the Rangers have on the table, leaving too wide a gap to bridge.
Vegas sees Dorofeyev as a dangerous finisher but not the type of playdriver or all-around contributor who merits an eight-figure salary.
He typically doesnt carry the puck a ton, instead requiring teammates who can get it to him in positions where he can unleash his sniping left-handed shot.
But when those scoring opportunities come, few in the league are as adept at making the most of them.
The narrative that Dorofeyev was the product of his high-end teammates may be overblown.
He spent only 99:22 of 1093:38 time on ice at five-on-five this season with Golden Knights top center Jack Eichel, according to Natural Stat Trick.
And while 605:21 of that TOI came with star Mitch Marner on the opposite wing, Dorofeyevs expected goals-for rate (57.27 percent with Marner vs.
56.29 percent without) and actual goals-for rate (56.82 percent with vs.
52.38 percent without) suggest he was very much pulling his own weight.
Ten of Dorofeyevs 15 five-on-five goals came with Marner on the ice, but those two were separated for Vegas run to the Stanley Cup Final, when Dorofeyev poured in 12 goals over 22 games.
Much of his playoff TOI came on Eichels line, where they outscored opponents 13-8 and generated a 52.93 percent xGF in 182:40 together at even strength.
Conversely, the Knights were outscored 3-1 with a 42.98 percent xGF in the 109:36 Dorofeyev played without Eichel.
The Rangers dont have anyone of Eichels or Marners caliber to pair their shiny new winger with, but theyre hopeful a facilitator will emerge from a top-six group that includes Alexis Lafreniere, Gabe Perreault, J.T.
Miller and Mika Zibanejad.
Advertisement Its worth noting that 20 of Dorofeyevs 37 regular-season goals came on the power play, good for the NHLs second-highest total.
Thats a high percentage of his production, but there shouldnt be a huge drop-off on a New York PP that will likely feature Dorofeyev, Lafreniere, Miller, Zibanejad and Adam Fox.
Is $11 million per season too much for a player who may only be elite in one area? Perhaps, but goals are pretty important and expensive.
It was the price Drury had to pay to lure in the type of skill that largely evaded him in his first five years at the helm.
The Rangers still have roughly $16.5 million in cap space heading into Wednesdays start of free agency and could add to that number by trading veteran Vincent Trocheck, which many around the league still expect will happen at some point.
Dont forget about the rising cap, either.
Dorofeyevs average annual value represents 10.58 percent of the $104 million cap limit for next season, but that number will shrink to a more palatable figure with each passing year.
Its also easier to stomach considering the pact only takes him through the age of 32.
Ponying up the big contract was the obvious selling point, but Dorofeyevs connections to the organization and the New York area surely didnt hurt.
His agent, Rick Komarow, is now responsible for the two largest contracts on the Rangers books, having negotiated an eight-year, $92.48 million deal ($11.57 million AAV) for goalie Igor Shesterkin in Dec.
2024.
(Komarow also represents this years first-round pick, Alberts Smits.) Dorofeyev valued the chance to join forces with those players, but his pre-existing relationships extend beyond that, as well.
This will be his fourth straight summer training with Rangers strength and conditioning consultant Ben Prentiss, who runs Prentiss Hockey Performance in Stamford, Conn.
Its become a popular spot for NHL players, with Dorofeyev working with a group that includes current Blueshirts such as Fox, Miller, Drew Fortescue and Matt Rempe.
That should help make the transition go smoothly, but the primary factors that led Dorofeyev to New York were Drurys aggressive targeting of young skill and his willingness to expend both the assets and the cap space to get it done.
The results of that strategic gamble will bear out over the next seven years.