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The Vegas Golden Knights spent weeks wrestling with one of the most consequential roster decisions in franchise history. On Friday night, during the first round of the NHL Draft, they made their move.
According to Darren Dreger and Emily Kaplan, Pavel Dorofeyev has been traded to the New York Rangers in return for No. 26 pick tonight, 2026 third round pick and a conditional 2028 first round pick (top-10 protected)
The deal marks a seismic shift for both organizations. For Vegas, it signals the end of a rare homegrown success story. Dorofeyev was drafted 79th overall by the Golden Knights back in 2019 and developed into one of the league’s most dangerous goal scorers, tallying 72 goals over the past two regular seasons and adding another 12 during this year’s Stanley Cup run.

For the Rangers, it represents the kind of marquee acquisition that could reshape their forward group overnight.
The writing had been on the wall in Vegas for some time. As a restricted free agent, Dorofeyev was reportedly expected to command north of $7 million per year even on a bridge deal. That number was always going to be difficult for a Golden Knights team facing a brutal salary cap crunch.
There will also be questions about how Dorofeyev’s production translates to a new environment. His scoring explosion in Vegas came alongside elite playmakers Mitch Marner and Tomas Hertl, two linemates who consistently generated high-quality chances for the Russian winger. He is not the type of player who creates offense on his own or excels when stuck in extended defensive zone duty. Still, 72 goals in two seasons puts Dorofeyev in the company of some of the NHL’s premier first-line talents. That kind of finishing ability is rare, and it is exactly the type of weapon New York has been searching for.
For now, the Rangers appear to have landed one of the summer’s biggest prizes and Vegas got some valuable picks to this summer’s draft.
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