Rangers Still Searching For The Best Version Of Pavel Dorofeyev

The Pavel Dorofeyev experience with the New York Rangers through 17 games has been perplexing.

With the hopes of adding an elite goal scorer who can also fit into the Rangers’ long-term plans, Chris Drury went out and acquired Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights on draft day this summer in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick, a 2026 third-round pick and a 2028 first-round pick.

The Rangers then proceeded to sign Dorofeyev to a seven-year, $77 million contract, making him the highest-paid Rangers forward.

Given Dorofeyev’s back-to-back 30-plus goal seasons, as well as his emergence in these past playoffs, he seemed right in line to become the focal point of the Rangers’ offense and add an explosive goal-scoring dynamic to a team craving just that.

However, the 25-year-old forward has had trouble translating his success from the Vegas Strip to Broadway thus far.

Throughout the start of the season, Mike Sullivan has shuffled the line combinations numerous times in an attempt to get Dorofeyev going.

After starting the season on a line with J.T. Miller and Oliver Bjorkstrand, Sullivan has since exhausted nearly every possible line combination involving Dorofeyev. He has played alongside Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault, Zibanejad and Alexis Lafrenière, Miller and Tye Kartye, as well as Noah Laba and Will Cuylle.

Through it all, Dorofeyev’s inconsistencies have been difficult to ignore. He scored four goals in 16 games leading into Thursday night while struggling to make a real impact on the overall game beyond just scoring.

“We're trying to explore different combinations and options from a line combination standpoint to try to set him (Dorofeyev) up for success,” Sullivan said. “As I said, we've tried a lot of different combinations around it. We'll probably continue to explore it until hopefully at some point here, he'll be able to settle into something.”

Most recently, Sullivan put Dorofeyev on a line with Zibanejad and Lafrenière following an extended six-day break in order to try and “capture Pav’s best game.”

Despite scoring a pretty-looking goal in the Rangers’ Sunday night game against the Edmonton Oilers with his new linemates, Sullivan wasn’t overly pleased with how Dorofeyev meshed with Zibanejad and Lafrenière after just two games.

“There's more there. We're hoping that they can establish some chemistry,” Sullivan said. “We rely on those guys to produce offensively for us on a consistent basis. I think that line has the makings of being a line that can make an impact for us. We're trying to be patient with them. We'll wait and see how it goes, but I do think there's more there.”

The Rangers’ Thursday night 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers was a rollercoaster ride for Dorofeyev.

After falling behind 2-1 in the second period, with the Rangers struggling to generate offense, Sullivan opened the third period by yanking Dorofeyev off his line with Zibanejad and Lafrenière in favor of Perreault, while Dorofeyev moved to the third line with Cuylle and Laba.

“We just felt that you know after the second period, it's been a few games now,” Sullivan said. “We just felt we need more from our top guys, and so we made that switch.”

The tides flipped for Dorofeyev in the third period on the power play when he ripped a shot past Joseph Woll that went top-shelf and in.

It was a true goal-scorer's kind of goal.

“Yeah, it obviously helps,” Dorofeyev said of his goal. “I just gotta keep focusing on my game. Trying again and again. Hopefully, it's going to come, like post and in, at some point.”

Dorofeyev still leads the Rangers with a total of 48 shots on net, so the chances have been there; he just hasn't been able to put it all together.

For Sullivan, it’s been an ongoing process to try and capture Dorofeyev’s full potential, which has included seeking advice from John Tortorella, who coached Dorofeyev with the Golden Knights and helped him score 12 goals in 22 playoff games this past season.

“I've talked to Torts multiple times actually about Pav,” Sullivan emphasized. “He's tried to offer me some insight on some of the things that he did when he was coaching him that he felt helped Pav move in the right direction. I'm trying to utilize some of those insights, and it's a work in progress.”

Dorofeyev thrived with a Golden Knights team featuring superstars the likes of Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner, who were able to create for him, helping best utilize his elite-level shot.

In New York, Dorofeyev is going through an adjustment period, still building chemistry with his teammates and trying to capture his game in a new environment.

Sullivan has made it clear, both through his words and actions, that Dorofeyev hasn’t found his best game so far.

“My experience has been when a player changes teams like that, signs a fairly decent contract, sometimes there's a little bit of an adjustment process that players go through...I think Pav is going through that process with us right now, trying to figure out we're a different team than what he was on. He's playing with different players.”

Seventeen games into the season, the Rangers are still trying to capture the best version of Dorofeyev and can only hope his goal on Thursday night is a sign of things to come.