NHL Trade: Blockbuster Move For Rangers, Acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev From Golden Knights

Hockey observers have been wondering how the Vegas Golden Knights would be able to afford to re-sign restricted free agent sniper Pavel Dorofeyev. That's been solved with tonight's trade of Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers. 

#NYR acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev from Vegas in exchange for the No. 26 pick, the No. 92 pick and a conditional 2028 first-round pick (condition on the pick is top-10 protected), per source.

— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) June 26, 2026

The Rangers will send the No. 26 pick in the first round Friday night, along with the No. 92 pick and a conditional 2028 first-round pick (condition on the pick is top-10 protected) in exchange. Vegas was clearly worried about an offer sheet coming in to Dorofeyev, so they circumvented that by swinging this deal. They have only $4.6 million in available cap space.

Elliotte Friedman has added a report that the trade comes with a new long-term deal for the RFA. Seven  years with an $11 million AAV. For context, AFP Analytics had projected the Russian forward to land a six-year deal with a $9M AAV on his next contract. 

Dorofeyev was the Golden Nights' top sniper, and just completed his second straight 35+ goal season for Vegas, with a career-high 37 to go with 64 points. 

It's a huge pickup for the Blueshirts, who add an elite 25-year-old scorer to the top of their forward group.