{"id":862497,"date":"2026-09-27T14:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T14:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/862497\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T14:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T14:00:11","slug":"pavel-dorofeyev-playing-up-to-blockbuster-expectations-in-preseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/862497\/","title":{"rendered":"Pavel Dorofeyev playing up to blockbuster expectations in preseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

The arrival of Pavel Dorofeyev already included plenty of expectations. There were the first- and third-round picks this year that the Rangers sent back to the Golden Knights; the top 10 protected first-rounder in 2026; and the seven-year deal<\/a> with an average annual value of $11 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Dorofeyev, the left-handed forward who said he was comfortable skating on both wings and has featured on the right side of J.T. Miller in both of his preseason games, didn\u2019t sound fazed about any of the stakes that\u2019ll come into focus when the season begins Tuesday night in Boston. His potential was on display<\/a> with a goal and three points in two preseason games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s big contract or small,\u201d Dorofeyev told The Post following the Rangers\u2019 morning skate Friday. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna change my game, or I\u2019m not gonna change myself. All I\u2019ll do is just gonna work hard and enjoy the game and not try and focus on points and other stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dorofeyev added a pair of assists in Friday\u2019s exhibition \u2014 a 6-1 Rangers victory, after flashing his trademark shot release Tuesday when he scored against the Islanders. While stuck in a cluster of traffic around the crease in the first period, Dorofeyev took possession and tried to maneuver around Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov before the puck slid to Oliver Bjorkstrand for the Blueshirts\u2019 first goal. In the third period, Dorofeyev kept the puck in at the blue line before the sequence eventually ended with Mika Zibanejad\u2019s power-play goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That, more than anything, was the space where the Rangers could potentially benefit most from the arrival of Dorofeyev. Their power play \u2014 already a strength<\/a> \u2014 added Dorofeyev\u2019s 20 goals with the man advantage from last season, which anchored his 37 total from 2025-26. Over the last two seasons, the 25-year-old collected 72 total goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PavelPavel Dorofeyev looks to shoot the puck during the Rangers\u2019 preseason loss to the Islanders on Sept. 22, 2026 at Madison Square Garden. Getty Images<\/p>\n

But everything will flip to the regular season for Dorofeyev, who has skated on a line with Miller and Bjorkstrand throughout training camp, and the Blueshirts on Tuesday. All the potential with his release \u2014 something that he said has been a strength since he started listening to everyone who told him he had a good shot \u2014 and his presence will fade, with the need for tangible results to emerge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His flashes from the preseason captured that it might be a seamless process for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJust trying to be consistent as much as I can and be good for the team,\u201d Dorfeyev said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"PavelPavel Dorofeyev skates with the puck during the Rangers\u2019 preseason loss to the Islanders on Sept. 22, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Rangers didn\u2019t make any of their final roster calls Saturday as the group of NHL players on waivers didn\u2019t include any of the possible Blueshirts names, according to PuckPedia<\/a>. Rookie Alberts Smits, Matthew Robertson and Scott Morrow are competing for spots as the final defensemen. Matt Rempe, Taylor Raddysh and Jaroslav Chmelar are all in contention for the final forward spots. And Joonas Korpisalo and Dylan Garand, who each logged a full preseason game, are battling for the role of backing up Igor Shesterkin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Robertson, Morrow, Rempe, Raddysh, Korpisalo and Garand would all need to clear waivers before joining AHL Harford.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the expert take on the Blueshirts\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Rangers, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Predators claimed defenseman William Trudeau \u2014 acquired from the Canadiens in the Brett Berard trade \u2014 off waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman<\/a>. Trudeau, a 6-foot-1 prospect, is 23 years old and a former fourth-round pick. \u2026 Forwards Glenn Gawdin and Anton Blidh, as well as defenseman Marc Del Gaizo, cleared waivers and were assigned to the Wolf Pack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The arrival of Pavel Dorofeyev already included plenty of expectations. There were the first- and third-round picks this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4823,385,99],"class_list":["post-862497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}