There was no superstar waiting for the New York Rangers to sign or trade for them this offseason. But on the opening night of the NHL Draft, the Rangers made a blockbuster trade with the Vegas Golden Knights to acquire winger Pavel Dorofeyev, surrendering multiple first-round picks to add him and then sign him to a seven-year, $77 million contract extension. The Rangers did all of this to ensure they had a great, young scorer on the roster for the foreseeable future.
For Dorofeyev, he thrived in the past two seasons for the Golden Knights, scoring 35 and 37 goals, respectively. Granted, he was on a stacked Golden Knights roster that featured plenty of stars. One of them was Jack Eichel, who was his center and co-contributor on the power play unit. So, fans are going to be wondering if there will be a drop-off in production once he joins New York, given that their roster is nowhere near as strong as Vegas'.
Head coach Mike Sullivan let it be known that Dorofeyev's success this upcoming season will depend on two key players.
Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller listed by Mike Sullivan as players who must help Pavel Dorofeyev in debut season with Rangers
While speaking with NHL.com's Dan Rosen, Sullivan stressed that Dorofeyev will need someone to get him the puck. Sullivan mentioned Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller as the two who need to set up Dorofeyev for goals this season, given the fact that the newcomer will be on either of the top two lines entering next season.
"He's a scorer and he needs somebody to get him the puck, and one of the things when we watched him in Vegas, he was playing with a guy like Jack Eichel, who is pretty good at getting guys the puck," said Sullivan. "Whoever that center is that's going to play with him, and it's more than likely going to be either Mika or J.T., their ability to get him the puck is going to be important to set him up for success. We feel like both of those guys have the ability to get him the puck."
It's no shock that Zibanejad and Miller, the top two centers on the team, would be tasked with ensuring Dorofeyev is able to produce and put goals on the scoreboard. Zibanejad is their top goal scorer from last season, while Miller is the team captain and locked in on the second line. But they do face a tough task of trying to do what Eichel was able to with Dorofeyev in Vegas.
Eichel was the facilitator on power play opportunities for the Golden Knights, In 74 games last season, Eichel recorded 27 assists, which was the sixth-most among all players in the NHL. As for Dorofeyev, he had 20 power play goals to his credit through 82 games, which was the second-most among all players. The only player ranked ahead of him was Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnston, who scored 27 power play goals.
Additionally, Eichel had 59 even strength points, which ranks 13th in the NHL. That is higher than Zibanejad's 41 (tied for 88th in NHL) and Miller's 33 (166th). So, the pressure will be on either of them to get the most out of Dorofeyev.
Does Pavel Dorofeyev fit better with Mika Zibanejad or J.T. Miller?
This is the question that Sullivan will have to find the answer to.
Last season, Sullivan did see success with their top line of Zibanejad, Alexis Lafreniere, and Gabe Perreault, who had incredible chemistry with one another. But considering the Rangers are going to be paying Dorofeyev $11 million per year, it doesn't make too much sense to not include him on the top line. With Zibanejad being one of the team's top producers, why wouldn't they want Dorofeyev to line up alongside him?
As for Miller, he had an uncharacteristic season, highlighted by numerous injuries, from training camp to midseason. So, he wasn't able to live up to the potential the Rangers expected of him. But perhaps one detriment of Dorofeyev being on the second line alongside Miller is that they don't have a locked winger to pencil in next to them. As of now, it makes the most sense to put Oliver Bjorkstrand on the second line, given he has shown he can put up 20 goals in a season in the past. Besides him, there are no other feasible options, barring a last minute signing or trade before the start of the season.
Ultimately, it's up to Sullivan to make the right choice. The Rangers surrendered plenty of assets and cap space to bring in Dorofeyev to succeed. Their best chance of doing so would be to put him on the top line with Zibanejad.
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