The New York Rangers are in a rough patch, and the timing hasn’t helped. After a strong opening to the season, they’ve stumbled badly over their last six games, dropping five of them. Igor Shesterkin’s injury has clearly played a part, and the defensive issues have only made the slide worse for a team that spent big in the offseason with the expectation of being better this year.
That context matters when looking at one of the moves that’s already drawing a lukewarm review. With the season 14 games old, Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report revisited some of the summer’s biggest transactions and gave the Rangers’ trade and signing of Pavel Dorofeyev a “C”.
So far, Dorofeyev’s numbers have been solid without being the kind that would jump off the page for a club expecting a major payoff. He has three goals and five assists for eight points through 14 games, which falls well short of what he delivered over the past two seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights. Last year alone, he piled up 37 goals and 27 assists, establishing himself as one of the league’s most dangerous shooters and a real force on the power play with 20 goals on the man advantage.
The Rangers brought him in with that same upside in mind, especially given how good their power play was a year ago. But the early results haven’t matched the vision. One thing the stat sheet doesn’t capture is just how often Dorofeyev has rung up posts and crossbars this season, a sign that he’s been close to breaking through even if the goals haven’t come in bunches yet.
There are still signs of life. The 25-year-old has points in five of his last six games and enters with a four-game point streak, a stretch that suggests the tide may be turning. His underlying numbers remain encouraging, and if that trend holds, the production should come around.
For now, the grade fits. The impact hasn’t been there yet, but Dorofeyev’s recent run offers enough reason to think the Rangers may not be stuck with a disappointing return for long.
In Other News...
Panarin Just Reopened A Brutal Rangers Reality At MSG
Artemi Panarins return to Madison Square Garden once again put a spotlight on what the Rangers gave up when they moved on from him. In his second visit back since the trade, he was right in the middle of the action, scoring a goal and adding an assist as his new club handled the building with ease. For a Rangers team still trying to settle into life without him, it was another reminder of how quickly an old star can make a new place feel like home.
Panarin has been productive from the start this season, piling up seven goals and four assists in 10 games for the Los Angeles Kings, while the Rangers continue to look for answers from the player they brought in to replace him. Pavel Dorofeyev has managed only three goals in 14 games, and his recent move down to the third line only deepens the concern about whether New York has found the right answer yet. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Prospects Are Starting To Build Real Momentum Overseas
A handful of Rangers prospects kept busy overseas last week, and there were signs that the organizations development pipeline is starting to pick up some real traction. Rico Gredig got on the board for EV Zug in Switzerland, while Mikkel Eriksen continued to hold a prominent role for Frjestad BK in Sweden, where he has been seeing top-six minutes and finding ways to stay involved offensively.
For a Rangers system that is always under the microscope, those kinds of updates matter because they show more than just ice time. Gredigs first goal of the season and Eriksens steady work in Sweden were part of a broader stretch that also included other prospects getting reps in their own leagues, a useful sign that several young players are building confidence at once rather than waiting for one breakout to carry the group. [Read more 🡒]
Tye Kartyes Breakout Is Giving The Rangers A Real Lineup Dilemma
Tye Kartye has turned a low-profile waiver claim into one of the more interesting storylines around the Rangers in the early going. Since arriving from Seattle late last season, he has shown a clear offensive jump, and his underlying numbers suggest he has been driving play well enough to back up the production. For a team always looking for useful depth without losing pace or edge, that kind of emergence tends to get noticed quickly.
The bigger question now is where Kartye fits as the lineup starts to sort itself out. The coaching staff has been shuffling his line combinations to find the best way to use him, which is a good problem to have but still a problem all the same. If he keeps producing at this level, the Rangers will have to decide whether his place is as a fixture in a scoring role or as part of a more flexible, moving puzzle. [Read more 🡒]