BIG TRADE & BIG BUCKS
The New York Rangers acquired winger Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights during Friday night’s NHL Draft held at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The Blueshirts sent picks #26 and #92 in this year’s draft, and a top-10 protected first-rounder in 2028.
The 25-year-old is coming off his most productive season — scoring 64 points (37 goals, 27 assists) in 82 games. He helped Vegas reach the Stanley Cup Finals by adding 16 points (12 goals, 4 assists) in 22 playoff games. He has already scored 105 goals in a combined 262 NHL regular-and-post-season games.
The Rangers welcome the 6’1”, 194-pound Russian to Gotham by awarding him a 7-year, $77m contract. At $11m per season he becomes the team’s second-highest-paid player behind countryman Igor Shesterkin.
BIG DRAFT PICK
My dream scenario was for the Rangers to have a chance at the all-around game of D Carson Carels (who went #6 to the Calgary Flames) or the offensive potential of D Chase Reid (who went #7 to the Seattle Kraken).
Shockingly, they were both available. However, since President & General Manager Chris Drury does not have the same lifetime contract that Glen Sather once had, he decided he didn’t have time to wait for them to develop at the University of North Dakota and Michigan State University, respectively.
Instead, the Rangers used #5 overall to select Latvian LHD Alberts Smits, who played for seven different teams during the 2025-26 season —
- Jukurit U20 SM-sarja (10 points in 5 games)
- Jukurit Liga (13 points in 38 games)
- EHC Munchen (7 points in 16 games)
- Latvia U20 World Juniors (5 points in 5 games)
- Latvia Olympics (2 points in 4 games)
- Latvia Worlds (4 points in 8 games)
- Latvia (Deutschland Cup) (1 point in 3 games)
The hardest-working young man in hockey was The Athletic’s Corey Pronman’s second-rated prospect, ahead of Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg and just behind Reid. Pronman believes he has a high-end shot, above average compete, and plays a similar game to Jakob Chychrun.
Unless the Rangers dive into free agency, it is likely the 18-year-old will have a chance to compete with Drew Fortescue, Matt Robertson, and Urho Vaakanainen for a spot behind Vladislav Gavrikov on the Rangers’ blueline.
BIG THINGS STILL TO COME
NHL Draft Day 2
On Saturday, June 27, the Rangers have eight additional draft picks. While reaching for positional need is never a good strategy, the Rangers will be looking to build organizational depth down the middle and in goal.
- Round 2 (#64 from Carolina)
- Round 3 (#67)
- Round 3 (#77 from the NYI)
- Round 3 (#81 from Los Angeles)
- Round 5 (#131)
- Round 6 (#162 from Chicago)
- Round 6 (#163)
- Round 7 (#193 from Vancouver)
Future Trades
Vincent Trocheck, pending RFA Braden Schneider, and Taylor Raddysh will be viewed as trade bait until they are either sent packing or arrive at the MSG Training Center in September for the start of Training Camp. There remains lots of interest in Trocheck, but Drury may prefer to wait until Dylan Larkin is dealt first.
The Dwindling Free Agent Market
NHL Free Agency officially starts July 1, 12n ET. The league office eliminated the legal tampering period, but with tired GMs readying their cottages for summer vacation, expect the signings to come fast and furious.
If you recall, this was going to be the greatest Free Agency Frenzy of All-Time. Now, with the likes of Kyle Connor, Jack Eichel, Kirill Kaprizov, Adrian Kempe, Connor McDavid, Martin Necas, Artemi Panarin, Darryn Raddysh, and Alex Tuch signed — it likely becomes just another July 1 when players get overpaid.
Defensemen
- Rasmus Anderson is rumored to be returning to Vegas.
- John Carlson is rumored to be headed to replace Raddysh in Tampa.
- Mario Ferraro is similar to former fan-favorite Ryan Lindgren, who Drury was not comfortable signing long-term.
- Jacob Trouba would probably have no interest, nor would Rangers’ Twitter, but his return at a reasonable (say $4m per year) contract could fix the MSG juju.
Forwards
- Boone Jenner would stylistically be a perfect replacement for Trocheck if New York trades him for futures. However, the fellow 33-year-old center is the top pivot on the market and would seemingly command more than Trocheck’s $5.62m annual salary.
- If Drury is looking for brownie points with the fanbase, he can bring back Mats Zuccarello. At 38, he still put up 54 points in 59 games and would be a perfect stylistic fit with Mika Zibanejad and Dorofeyev. However, he’s already been in Minnesota seven years and has a special relationship with Kirill Kaprizov.
- My favorite option is the well-traveled Mason Marchment. He’s played 370 career games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars, Seattle Kraken, and Columbus Blue Jackets. The late-blooming 31-year-old has put up impressive power forward stats including 234 points (95 goals, 139 assists) with 314 penalty minutes, and 549 hits.
BIG (EVOLVING) DEPTH CHART
Alexis Lafreniere-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Dorofeyev
Will Cuylle-JT Miller-Gabe Perreault
Tye Karte-Vincent Trocheck-Taylor Raddysh
Jaroslav Chemlar-Noah Laba-Matt Rempe
Adam Edstrom-Juuso Parssinen-Adam Sikora
Vladislav Gavrikov-Adam Fox
Matthew Robertson-Braden Schneider
Alberts Smits-Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen-Scott Morrow
Drew Fortescue-Vincent Iorio
Igor Shesterkin
Dylan Garand
Spencer Martin