Even before the Rangers get around to special teams work at training camp, Pavel Dorofeyev is already shaping up as the piece that could make their power play nastier than it was a year ago.
That’s saying something. New York finished fifth in the NHL on the man advantage last season at 24.7 percent, and it did it in a year when the club was 23rd in overall scoring, got shut out a League-high 10 times and ended up with the third-worst record in the NHL. The unit also had to survive 27 missed games from Adam Fox because of a pair of extended injury absences.
When Fox was in the lineup, the power play looked dangerous. When he wasn’t, it dropped off some, but it still held together. Fox finished with 24 power-play points in 55 games, second on the team behind Mika Zibanejad, who led the Rangers with 16 power-play goals and 35 man-advantage points.
Now Fox sees a chance for that group to become even more dangerous.
“If it is him and Mika on those flanks, those are two shooting threats, kind of pick your poison there,” Fox said Thursday after the first practice and scrimmage of training camp. “I think it’s huge. Having a goal scorer on the power play, that’s one of the biggest threats you can have, and he’s obviously one of the best.”
Dorofeyev arrives with a very specific reputation. Last season with the Vegas Golden Knights, he scored 20 power-play goals, second most in the League. That gives the Rangers two of the top five power-play producers from a year ago, with Dorofeyev and Zibanejad both built around the kind of off-wing shot that forces penalty kills to make a brutal choice.
Zibanejad put it this way: “It adds another threat maybe other teams haven’t seen in the same way from our power play in the past,” Zibanejad explained.
The Rangers also lost two familiar power-play pieces along the way. Artemi Panarin was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in February, and Vincent Trocheck was dealt to the Utah Mammoth this summer. Trocheck’s face-off work and puck battles were a major part of the team’s power-play success over the past four seasons, so his absence will be felt.
Still, Dorofeyev gives the unit something new. Fox, Zibanejad, Alexis Lafreniere and J.T. Miller can all add skill around him, and the overall look of that first group has the potential to be far more punishing if opponents lean too hard to one side.
The fit is obvious enough that Fox is already talking about the matchup problem it creates.
Pick your poison, indeed.
There’s also more to Dorofeyev than power-play juice. The Rangers want better 5-on-5 scoring too, and he can help there as well. He scored 17 even-strength goals last season to finish with a career-high 37, and in 2024-25 he scored 22 even-strength goals and 35 overall.
That production helps explain why Chris Drury sent three draft picks, including two first-rounders, to Vegas to get him, then signed him to a seven-year, $77 million contract.
Thursday gave the first real glimpse of how coach Mike Sullivan might use him at even strength. Dorofeyev skated on left wing with J.T.
Miller and Oliver Bjorkstrand, while Sullivan also likes the idea of keeping Zibanejad, Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault together after their strong finish on the top line last season. That setup would also leave two-time 20-goal scorer Will Cuylle on the third line, which would deepen the roster.
Miller sounded eager about his new linemate.
“The guy scores goals, has got a ton of skill … it’s exciting for me,” Miller said about his new linemate. “Try to stay out of the way, make room for him. I like playing on the forecheck and playing below the goal line, so hopefully I can create room for him to make plays in the open ice.”
Sullivan said the short runway to opening night in Boston against the Bruins on Sept. 29 means he has a clear reason to start camp with certain line combinations and defense pairings, though he stressed he’s not locked into anything yet.
Even so, the direction is hard to miss. No matter where Dorofeyev settles at 5-on-5, he looks like a lock for PP1 when the Rangers finally start working the special teams. And if that’s how it plays out, New York could have one of the League’s toughest power-play puzzles to solve.
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