Beauty of new Rangers star is ability to ‘figure out a f*****g way to score’
Ever since the New York Rangers landed stud sniper Pavel Dorofeyev in a draft-day trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, there’s been much debate and speculation about who his new linemates will be on Broadway. And along those lines, there’s concern in some circles that the Rangers don’t have the same quality of players on their roster as Dorofeyev was accustomed to in Vegas.
Though it’s true Dorofeyev won’t be getting ice-time with Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel, two of the League’s elite playmakers, anymore, Rangers general manager Chris Drury last week scoffed at the notion the Blueshirts don’t have enough skill to complement the 25-year-old star.
“I think we’ve got some pretty talented players that can get him the puck as well, whether it’s 5-on-5 or power play,” Drury told reporters Thursday.
Former Rangers defenseman Keith Yandle, speaking on the Spittin’ Chicklets podcast, took it a step further when explaining why he’s unconcerned about any dip in Dorofeyev’s production in New York.
“I don’t think it’s the kind of thing where he’s going to come in and his number [will drop off]. Those goal scorers, man, they just figure out a f****** way to score. They just know how to do it,” Yandle stated.
Dorofeyev led the Golden Knights with 37 goals last season, including 20 on the power play, second most in the NHL. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, only teammate (and former Rangers center) Brett Howden scored more postseason goals (14) than Dorofeyev, who had 12. Two years ago, Dorofeyev topped Vegas with 35 goals.
Simply, the kid scores goals every which way — even strength, power play, in tight around the net, off the rush. Dorofeyev is a goal scorer. Not a play driver, per se, but definitely a finisher And that’s no matter who his linemates are or which teammates are on the ice.
He’s exactly what and who the Rangers desperately needed after trading Artemi Panarin in February and finishing 23rd in the NHL with 235 goals scored last season. There’s a reason the Rangers surrendered two first-round picks, including No. 26 overall this year, and a third-rounder to acquire Dorofeyev. Not to mention locking him up with a seven-year, $77 million contract that is the richest on the Rangers for any player not named Igor Shesterkin.
Former Rangers defenseman Keith Yandle sees J.T. Miller as perfect fit to be Pavel Dorofeyev linemate
Obviously, Dorofeyev will be in the Rangers top-six forward group and on the top power-play unit. That PP1 could by dynamic next season, with Adam Fox, Mike Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, and likely Alexis Lafreniere joining Dorofeyev. The Rangers had the fifth-best power play in 2025-26, converting at 24.7 percent. And that was with Fox missing 27 games due to injury, Panarin traded away before the Olympic break, and Dorofeyev in Vegas.
Former NHLer Ray Whitney weighed in ahead of Yandle on Spittin’ Chiclets, expressing concern about who lines up with Dorofeyev at even strength next season.
“So, where I’m at on this one, a young player who’s probably going to guarantee you 30 goals a year, right? Rangers, I love that for them. They needed goal scoring,” Whiteny offered. “Who is getting him the puck, though, that is the other side of the argument. I just wonder, at his age, and how he scores, yes, great deal. But at the same time, no more Eichel, you know what I’m saying?”
Yandle, though, believes he knows the answer.
“I think J.T. Miller — I would imagine he’s going to play with Miller, right? The Zibanejad line (with Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault) was good last year. I would imagine he’s going to play with J.T. Miller,” Yandle explained. “I played with J.T. Miller (from 2015-16), and at the beginning of his career, he was like a pass-first guy. And I still think he has that in him. I think he’s going to be able to find [Dorofeyev] the puck as good as anyone.”
Even though Miller’s 33 and coming off a down season (53 points in 68 games), he’s averaged a point per game from the 2021-22 season through 2025-26 (407 points in 382 games). He had 48 assists playing for the Rangers and Vancouver Canucks in 2024-25 and didn’t have fewer than 50 in a season from 2021-24.
Not only is Miller a good puck distributor with excellent on-ice vision, he opens up space for his linemates by getting in on the forecheck, and also creating havoc in front of the opposing goalie. That he’s an excellent face-off man means the Rangers should start with the puck much more often than not with Miller taking draws.
It’s all in theory now until training camp, the preseason, and, most importantly, regular season tells us more.
Let’s leave the final word, for now, to Paul Bissonnette from the same Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. He’s got a Dorofeyev prediction the Rangers will like.
“Auto 35 tucks.”
