The New York Rangers finished 29^th in the NHL in the 2025-26 season, otherwise known as dead last in the East. That comes one season after finishing 22^nd in the NHL. Their top three forwards will all be 33 years old for the 2026-27 campaign. They have two good defencemen. Knowing all that, the only logical thing for them to do was trade for Vegas Golden Knights winger Pavel Dorofeyev, who doesn't even have a contract right now, and is two years away from unrestricted free agency.

Here is the full trade:

The condition on the first in 2028 is that it is top-10 protected.

Let's break it down.

What New York Gets

Aside from ensuring a 23^rd-place finish next season, what the Rangers accomplished with this trade was to fill some of the scoring void left behind by the trade of Artemi Panarin last season. Dorofeyev has scored 72 goals across the last two years, which ties him for 15^th in the league. Over the last three years, he's scored a shade under 1.5 goals per 60 minutes, which puts him ahead of names like David Pastrnak, Kyle Connor, and Wyatt Johnston. He is a volume shooter, putting up 484 shots across the last two years, and can score extremely well.

How much value Dorofeyev provides likely comes down to how well J.T. Miller plays. At his best, Miller is far-and-away the best playmaker the Rangers have, and if he can distribute the puck like he did 2-3 years ago, then Dorofeyev can very well get back to the 35-goal mark, especially if he can earn some more ice time. If Miller plays the way he did in 2025-26, it might be tough sledding for Dorofeyev to repeat his excellent seasons from Vegas.

This is nothing but bad news for Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault. Even if Vincent Trocheck is traded, Miller, Dorofeyev, Mika Zibanejad, and Adam Fox are locks for the top PP unit. It leaves one spot for either Lafrenière or Perreault, and someone's going to get the very short end of the stick: last season, the Rangers' top PP unit would often earn around (or over) 75% of the power-play time, making them one of the most heavily-used top units in the league. Lafrenière managed 15 PPPs last season, most of them coming in the 25-game stretch after the Olympics when Panarin was traded (9 PPPs). Whichever of Lafrenière or Perreault gets relegated to the second PP unit is going to be in tough to get to 10 PPPs (provided the top unit stays healthy), while the other could cruise past 20 PPPs. That makes a big fantasy value difference.

Dorofeyev leaving Vegas would seem to ensure that both Tomas Hertl and Shea Theodore get top PP time next season, though we have to wait and see how the rest of the offseason shakes out. It might open up some more 5-on-5 ice time for Brett Howden, who is coming off that incredible playoff run.

Who This Helps

Brett Howden

J.T. Miller

Tomas Hertl

Shea Theodore

Who This Hurts

Gabe Perreault

Alexis Lafreniere

Pavel Dorofeyev