Questions raised for ‘mushy middle’ Rangers after Pavel Dorofeyev trade
When the New York Rangers acquired Pavel Dorofeyev in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights and then signed the high-scoring forward to a rich long-term contract extension, the pair of offseason moves were widely applauded in most hockey circles, including in this space.
For a team that missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs two years in a row and finished 23rd out of 32 NHL teams in scoring last season (2.87 goals per game), being able to secure the services of a 25-year-old rising star who scored 72 goals the past two years feels like a coup for the Rangers.
The draft-day trade was “definitely a head-turner,” using the words of PuckPedia founder and capologist Hart Levine. The Rangers acquired Dorofeyev, who led the Golden Knights with 37 goals this past season and 35 in 2024-25, for a pair of first-round picks (including No. 26 this year) and a third-round selection.
That’s not an insignificant price to pay. Neither was the seven-year, $77 million contract the Rangers signed Dorofeyev to right after the trade.
Levine recently raised the question about the timing of the Dorofeyev commitment for the Rangers, who are not true Stanley Cup contenders and no shoo-in to even reach the postseason given their roster makeup and coming off a last-place finish in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26.
“I don’t think that contract is unreasonable for what he’s produced,” Levine told Forever Blueshirts on the Rink Rap podcast. “I guess my question is why is it the Rangers trading for him and giving him that contract? That was my thought at the time. With where they are in their cycle right now, does it make sense to be giving up those assets or giving him that contract?
“I get that he’s 25 and not 31, but they haven’t made the playoffs recently, right? And if they have another down season this year, what are they going to do? Are they going to try and sell off? Or are they just trying to be in that mushy middle the next few years and not make the playoffs, or make the playoffs and get bounced right away?”
The counter argument is that the Rangers pounced on a rare opportunity to fill a glaring hole in their lineup with a young player that has an impressive recent track record and could be just scratching the surface of production entering his prime years. And with the NHL salary cap continuing to rise, Dorofeyev’s $11 million cap hit isn’t so onerous.
Add in that the Rangers prospect pool is not deep with high-end offensive talent, and the Dorofeyev acquisition makes even more sense.
“A player like Dorofeyev, I don’t think he’s a superstar, I don’t think he’s the reason a team goes up several spots in the standings,” Levine stated. “I think he’s a player that’s a good player and certainly will help any team. He’ll score. I’m just not sure where the Rangers are in this cycle, if they were the right team to be giving up those assets and that contract.”
PuckPedia capologist sees ‘decent chance [Pavel] Dorofeyev lives up to this contract’ with Rangers
Since Dorofeyev doesn’t turn 26 until late October and is signed for seven seasons, this isn’t simply a win-now move. But it certainly fits with general manager Chris Drury’s stated retool as opposed to rebuild strategy. Time will tell if Dorofeyev simply helps keep the Rangers in the mix — the “mushy middle” — or becomes a foundational piece that helps them turn into true contenders eventually.
What happens next, and after that, and after that, will also determine the future Rangers course, not just this upcoming season, but beyond that. In the simple short term, though, the Rangers certainly are better today with Dorofeyev in their lineup, than before the trade with Vegas.
NHL: New York Rangers at Vegas Golden Knights
Harman Dayal of The Athletic recently called Dorofeyev a “top-flight goal scorer” and praised other moves Drury made this summer, including vastly upgrading the second-defense pairing by trading for Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson.
But that was included in an article about seven NHL teams stuck in the “mushy middle,” not bad, but certainly not playoff locks nor Cup contenders.
“The current lineup isn’t close to the level of the best teams in the Eastern Conference,” Dayal wrote. “The Rangers should be significantly better next season, but their ceiling looks quite limited, and it feels like they’ve locked themselves into being a ‘mid’ team for the foreseeable future.”
The only way for the Rangers to change that perception is on the ice. And Dorofeyev’s play and production is a big part of the euqation. Though Levine stands firm in his take about both the player and the team.
“I think there’s a decent chance Dorofeyev lives up to this contract. My question is: are the Rangers the right team to give up those assets and give him that contract? To me, I think where teams go wrong is just being stuck in that middle.”
