Rangers-Golden Knights Agree to Blockbuster Draft Trade for 30-Goal Scorer

The Vegas Golden Knights came up short in the Stanley Cup Final, and after parting ways with head coach John Tortorella, the team also jettisoned one of its top scorers in a major offseason shakeup.

In a draft night shocker, Vegas traded 30-goal forward Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers for multiple draft picks.

"#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 of the New York Post wrote on X.

Dorofeyev, a third-round pick in 2019, posted his two best seasons in 2024 and 2025. He logged 35 goals and 52 points two years ago, and followed it up with a 37-goal, 64-point season last year.

He also scored the second-most goals (12) and fifth-most points (18) on the team during the playoffs.

Despite losing Dorofeyev, Vegas still has plenty of offensive firepower, however.

The Golden Knights boast Jack Eichel (27 goals, 90 points in 2025), Mitch Marner (24 goals, 80 points), Mark Stone (28 goals, 73 points), Ivan Barbashev (23 goals, 61 points), and Tomas Hertl (4 goals, 58 points).

The move gives the Rangers another dynamic scorer to pair with Mika Zibanejad (34 goals, 78 points in 2025), Alexis Lafreniere (24 goals, 57 points), JT Miller, and Adam Fox.

Perhaps the biggest win for the Rangers is they didn't have to surrender the No. 5 overall pick in Friday's draft, which they used on defenseman Alberts Smits, who's projected to be the team's future No. 1 defenseman.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 7:56 PM.