When The Rangers Acquired Pavel Dorefeyev, One Of First People Mike Sullivan Called Was Alexis Lafrenière

There was a lot of excitement when the New York Rangers acquired Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights on draft night, but Mike Sullivan had his mind on speaking to Alexis Lafrenière. 

Dorofeyev is one of the most lethal scoring threats in the NHL on the power play, as he recorded 20 goals last season, which ranked him second among all NHL players,

Because Dorofeyev and Lafrenière are both left-shot players, it's easy to assume Dorofeyev could take Lafrenière’s spot on the power play.

However, Sullivan called Lafrenière shortly after the Dorofeyev trade to tell him he had no plans to yank the 24-year-old forward off the first power-play unit.

“When you look at the second half of the year last year, that’s when our power play was at its best and Laf was a part of that group,” Sullivan said. “I think it has helped Laf’s game evolve 5-on-five. I said to Laf this summer when we traded for Pav, and he’s a left shot, one of the first things I did was call Laf and assure him that my intention as the coach was to not take him off the power play, number one because I think he was deserving player, based on the body of work he put together in the second half of the year last year. 

“I also think it was a big part of his growth and maturation as a player, 5-on-5 and the power play. I think Laf has been deserving of being a part of that number-one unit for all of those reasons.”

Lafrenière found a lot of success playing in more of a net-front, grind role on the power play last season, as Sullivan has constantly praised the evolution of that part of his game. 

With Dorofeyev playing in a flank position to better utilize his shot, Lafrenière finds himself playing a netfront-bumper role on the power play. 

The first power-play unit, consisting of Dorofeyev, Lafrenière, Adam Fox, J.T. Miller, and Mika Zibanejad, is still looking to find their groove.

The Rangers’ power play is currently 3-for-14 through the first five games this season, with the second unit of Sean Durzi, Gabe Perreault, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Will Cuylle and Eeli Tolvanen scoring two out of the three goals. 

Sullivan isn’t worried about his first power-play unit just yet, as he knows it will take time to integrate a player like Dorofeyev.

“I think it’s a work in progress right now,” Sullivan said. “We’re still trying to work through it. But if you remember last year, it was the same thing with our group. Early on, it was a process in trying to get us to where we want to be. I don’t think we’re there yet. I think we’re still feeling it out. 

“Obviously, adding Pav to the group, he can finish, he can really shoot the puck. That’s probably his greatest attribute, but it also has altered the shots, the righties, lefties, things of that nature. It just changes the makeup a little bit of the group, and we’re trying to feel that process out. I think the guys are doing a good job just staying with it, and we’ll stay with it. We’ll keep working at it with them. There’s been some really good stuff, and there’s been not-so-good stuff. It’s a little bit of both right now.”