After two seasons in which they were one of the biggest disappointments in the entire NHL, the New York Rangers have publicly stated they’re focused on having a bounce-back season in 2026-27.

While the major acquisition they made Friday – former Vegas Golden Knights sniper Pavel Dorofeyev – will certainly help the Rangers’ puny offensive attack, it’s not guaranteed to elevate the Rangers into being a Stanley Cup playoff team.

Dorofeyev was an excellent player for the Golden Knights, posting a career-high 37 goals and 64 points this past season. Dorofeyev also had 12 goals and 16 points in 22 playoff games this spring. The 25-year-old Russian was clearly a salary cap casualty with Vegas, which had only $4.6-million in cap space.

Dorofeyev is about to enter the first year of a seven-year contract with an average annual value of $11 million.

That makes Dorofeyev the Rangers’ highest-paid player other than superstar goalie Igor Shesterkin, who is earning $11.5 million per season. But at 25 years old, Dorofeyev is just about to enter his prime, and he’s produced 72 goals in the past two seasons. He’s going to be a key contributor for the Rangers, but is the addition of Dorofeyev enough to make this Blueshirts team a post-season team?

We don’t think so.

Rangers GM Chris Drury may not be done making acquisitions. Still, Drury did not want to invest in former star winger Artemi Panarin, who was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings last season, so he is going to be picky about the players he wants in his core. But even in a weak Metropolitan Division, a lot is still going to have to go right for the Rangers to get into the playoffs.

For instance, the Rangers’ group of forwards isn’t the most intimidating, even with Dorofeyev aboard. Their bottom-two defense pairings also aren’t especially accomplished or experienced. This is all before Drury likely trades center Vincent Trocheck – and that’s almost assuredly going to make the Rangers a less-talented squad. 

The Rangers have approximately $15.6-million in salary cap space, but they do have some RFAs to re-sign, so that space is going to disappear very quickly. But you can see what Drury is hoping for with the Dorofeyev move – he’s hoping the offense gets a boost; he’s hoping for a better season from defenseman Adam Fox; he’s hoping veterans Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller do their part; and he’s hoping youngster Alexis Lafreniere takes that next competitive step and grows into a Grade-A competitor.

That said, we’re not confident that all those things will come together for the Rangers. If anything, they’re now closer to being a mushy middle team – not good enough to be a playoff team, but not bad enough to get a top draft pick to build around.

While Dorofeyev moves the needle for the Blueshirts’ offense, we don’t see him being enough on his own for the Rangers to be a playoff team. 

The Rangers are an organization that’s very much a work-in-progress, so we have to be careful writing them off. Unfortunately, they still don’t have the depth, play drivers, or creativity to be an elite team.

Drury chose not to do a full rebuild, and that might prove to be the correct course of action for this Rangers team. But they’re not going to be a playoff team simply because Dorofeyev was acquired.

Indeed, the Rangers still have a considerable way to go before they’re a lock to be a playoff team. It’s hard to see them leaping over seven other Metro teams that finished ahead of them in the standings last season – and until they make more acquisitions that improve their overall depth, the Rangers are going to be a major underdog to do anything of positive consequence.

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