Two first-round picks. One third-rounder. For a winger who’s never taken a shift at Madison Square Garden.
That’s what Chris Drury handed Vegas for Pavel Dorofeyev this summer — a deal ESPN detailed as two first-round picks and a third-rounder heading out of New York — then he turned around and signed the guy to a seven-year, $77 million extension. Eleven million a year for a player who put up 37 goals last season and 35 the year before that. Drury didn’t do that for a rental. He wants Dorofeyev anchoring a scoring line in New York for years, and he’s staking his own job on it starting September 29 in Boston.
Back on July 10, this site called it a trade steal fresh off the deal. Two months and a full offseason of spending later, that read still holds up.
He didn’t stop at the winger. Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi came in to rebuild the second defensive pair from scratch, and by August they were already sounding like Rangers lifers. Oliver Bjorkstrand, a six-time 20-goal scorer, signed in free agency. Braden Schneider skipped arbitration entirely and took a one-year deal to slide into the third pair behind Fox and Durzi. Add it up and Drury spent his whole summer converting draft capital and cap space into a finished roster instead of a work in progress.
Beat writers noticed. Arthur Staple wrote that Drury “made some serious moves this offseason and it’s clear he wants — needs? — to win now,” calling Dorofeyev “a strong trade” and the new pairing “an entirely new second pair.” That’s about as bullish as a beat reporter gets in late August.
Here’s the trade itself, as the league announced it:
The @NYRangers were looking for goalscoring, so they acquired Pavel Dorofeyev from the Golden Knights.
Will the back-to-back 30-goal scorer replicate his past performances in the Big Apple? 🤔
📺: #NHLTonight on NHL Network pic.twitter.com/ap4oBf3lN3
— NHL Media (@NHLMedia) August 26, 2026
A back-to-back 30-goal scorer walking into Broadway. Vegas guys don’t come cheap. Drury paid the going rate without blinking.
Even the ex-teammates are buying in. Reilly Smith said on the Rink Rap podcast that if he could’ve bought stock in a hockey player, he’d have bought Dorofeyev. Nice sentiment. Doesn’t score a single goal in October.
Sports Illustrated has already called this a make-or-break season for Drury, and whether or not that’s the official mandate from ownership, the roster construction backs it up. This isn’t a bridge year anymore, and it isn’t a rebuild hiding behind a youth movement either. Panarin, Zibanejad, Lafreniere and Rempe are still up front, Shesterkin’s still the last line of defense, and now there’s a rebuilt right side and a $77 million winger who’s supposed to be the missing piece.
If Dorofeyev scores 35 and the Rangers still miss the playoffs, that’s on the guy who traded two firsts to get him. If Pettersson and Durzi don’t gel, that’s on the guy who built the pair. Drury doesn’t get to point at Dolan’s meddling or a thin prospect cupboard anymore. He spent the assets he had specifically to remove those excuses from the room.
The price was steep. He paid it anyway. He wanted this roster.
Now he owns it.
