Pavel Dorofeyev and the New York Rangers just made one of the biggest bets of their offseason, and now it's time to see if it pays off.
New York gave up three draft picks, including two first-rounders, to pry Dorofeyev away from Vegas at the draft this summer.
He backed it up with a seven-year, $77 million contract, a deal that reportedly makes him the second-highest cap hit on the roster behind only Igor Shesterkin.
Dorofeyev scored 37 goals and put up 64 points in 82 games last season, and his 72 goals over the past two years tie David Pastrnak for 15th-most in the league.
That's one fewer than Connor McDavid managed and just four behind Alex Ovechkin over that same stretch, remarkable company for a former third-round pick.
He also delivered in the playoffs, posting 16 points in 22 games as Vegas made a run to the Stanley Cup Final.
New York badly needs that kind of finishing. The Rangers ranked 23rd in goals per game last season and got shut out a league-high 10 times.
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Only three Rangers hit 20 goals last year: Mika Zibanejad with 34, Alexis Lafreniere with 24, and Will Cuylle with 20.
Golden Knights broadcaster Dan D'Uva described Dorofeyev as driven and business-like, exactly the mindset needed to handle a payday jump from $1,835,000 to real star money.
The real question is what happens without Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner setting him up, since 20 of his 37 goals came on the power play in Vegas.
Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, and Adam Fox aren't nothing, but they're not Eichel and Marner either, and that difference will show up somewhere.
Dorofeyev himself called the pressure "kind of a privilege" during a summer Zoom call, exactly the response you'd want from a guy walking into Madison Square Garden expectations.
Training camp opens in a couple weeks, and there's no way to fake this one. Either the goals show up in New York or they don't.
Will Pavel Dorofeyev score 30-plus goals for the Rangers this season?
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