After terminating his contract in the KHL last week, Pavel Dorofeyev is coming to Vegas. The third-round pick signed his entry-level contract with the Vegas Golden Knights and has been assigned to the Henderson Silver Knights for their upcoming season.
Dorofeyev, 20, was selected 79th overall in 2019 after making it all the way up to the KHL as a teenager. Though he didn’t score much when he got there, just being a regular at that age was impressive enough. After attending the Golden Knights development camp, he returned to Russia to once again play on a regular basis with Magnitogorsk Mettalurg, scoring four goals and seven points in 48 games. That return came with a contract extension, part of the reason why Dorofeyev fell down the draft board in the first place—some had even considered him a late first-round talent, but it wasn’t at all clear when he would come to North America.
Now, after a July 2020 trade took him from Magnitogorsk to Chelyabinsk and a season where he has been playing in the VHL (the KHL’s minor league), Vegas’ gambit pays off. He’ll now immediately become one of the players to watch for Henderson, armed with incredible puck skills and top-end skating ability. That’s not to say he’s ready to step in and be a contributor in the NHL, but having full control of his development for the next three years at a minimum is a clear with for the Golden Knights.