Dorofeyev becoming 'high-stakes player' for Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- Pavel Dorofeyev’s chances of a lucrative payday this summer escalate with each and every goal he scores in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

More importantly, so do the odds of the Vegas Golden Knights winning the Stanley Cup for the second time in the franchise’s nine-season history.

The 25-year-old forward is tied with teammate Brett Howden for the NHL lead in postseason goals this spring with 10, two ahead of Carolina Hurricanes forward Logan Stankoven. It’s part of an impressive run that he’s had the past two seasons, one that has seen him develop into a key cog in Vegas’ balanced offense.

Dorofeyev is in the final season a two-year, $3.67 million contract ($1.835 million average annual value) he signed with Vegas on July 1, 2024. As a pending restricted free agent, he stands to cash in on such impressive numbers, so much so that there is speculation in the Las Vegas media that he could be a prime candidate to receive an offer sheet from an opposing team.

Before any of that happens, though, there’s plenty of work to do first, specifically helping his team get past either the Hurricanes or Montreal Canadiens in the upcoming Stanley Cup Final. Regardless of which team emerges from the Eastern Conference Final -- the Hurricanes lead that best-of-7 series 3-1 -- the end goal for Dorofeyev and his teammates is simple: win four more games, hoist that trophy, and everything else will fall into place.

“It obviously feels great,” he said when asked about his postseason production. “It’s fun when you score a bunch of goals.”

Dorofeyev did just that during the regular season, too. He finished with 37 goals, more than household names like Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers (35), Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings (34), Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (32), William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs (30), Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks (30) and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins (29).

In the process, it’s on the man-advantage where he continues to excel. Dorofeyev finished second in the NHL in power-play goals (20) in the regular season, behind only Wyatt Johnston of the Dallas Stars (27). In the playoffs, he’s tied for the League lead (four) with teammate Mark Stone and Juraj Slafkovsky of the Montreal Canadiens.

Simply put, Dorofeyev might be one of the best, if not the best, goal-scorers very few talk about outside of Vegas. At least until the Final, where he’ll be able to showcase his finishing abilities on hockey’s biggest stage.

Not that he’ll be fazed by it, though. Not in the least. Stop by his cubicle in the Golden Knights' dressing room and you’ll be greeted by the smile of a kid who’s having a blast and living his dream.

“The biggest thing for me is I’m learning a lot of things from the boys,” he said. “That’s helped me on and off the ice as well. I’m just enjoying every single game and trying to do my best.”

All the while, he’s sponging whatever information and guidance he can get from those teammates who won the Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023.

“We’ve got a very experienced group of guys,” Dorofeyev said. “They know how to deal with every single situation no matter what is going on, whether it’s going our way or not going our way. They know how to handle pressure and it definitely has helped.”

Dorofeyev, a native of Nizhny Tagil, Russia, was selected by Vegas in the third round (No. 79) of the 2019 NHL Draft. His breakout season came in 2024-25, his first full NHL season, when he scored 35 goals in 82 games, a marked improvement on the 13 he scored in 47 games the previous season. Thirteen of those goals came on the power play, by the way, an indication of his penchant for producing in man-advantage situations.

What makes him so effective, according to Golden Knights coach John Tortorella, is how he manages to maneuver himself into the right places at the right times, as cliche as that might sound.

“It seems like he’s beginning to be a high-stakes player, scoring big goals at big times,” Tortorella said during a press conference last week. “The puck follows him.

“I think he’s worked on his play away from the puck, which is imperative this time of year. I just think he has worked on his game, the puck has found him, and he has made big plays at big times.”

In Dorofeyev’s mind, he doesn’t care who on Vegas' roster makes those aforementioned “big plays” in the next couple of weeks. Just as long as they come.

“For me, every single guy on our team can step up and score a big goal for us,” he said. “That type of depth is really important, especially at this time of year.

“For me, everyone on this team has the (capability) to step up and make a difference at the right time.”