If you follow the Golden Knights, you know who the heavy hitters are. Players like Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev, and Tomas Hertl jump out, but you may not think as highly of Pavel Dorofeyev.
No, Dorofeyev isn’t too much less productive than the names mentioned above. But it’s hard to get recognition when you’re playing on the same team as Eichel and Barbashev.
Still, Dorofeyev is a respectable sixth on the team with 17 points and 12 goals in 30 games, and yeah, you read that right: 12 goals. Before Saturday’s loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Dorofeyev had been converting a solid 14.0 percent of his shots on goal, and he led the team in the latter category with 86.
Yeah, not bad at all, right? He’s not the most physical player out there and can be turnover-prone. But Dorofeyev is someone who’s slowly but surely showing us he’ll be an integral part of this Golden Knights team for quite some time.
And before you say anything, I’ll agree and admit that his game has its drawbacks when you look at some advanced numbers. His Corsi For at even strength is well below 50 percent, he’s got just an 8.4 on-ice shooting percentage, and his on-ice save percentage is a modest 88.9.
Golden Knights would do well to insert Pavel Dorofeyev into the game more
Still, the object of winning the game of hockey is to score goals, and Dorofeyev makes the most of those opportunities. He’s someone who the Knights can count on not only to make the most of his current opportunities, but to come through while on the man-advantage.
So far this season, Dorofeyev is second on the team next to Tomas Hertl in power play goals with five. He’s also got a pair of game-winners, indicating he can come on strong in clutch moments.
All of that points to a star player in the making, and while he’s already receiving a solid 16:27 of average total ice time, I’d like to see that number increase to something even more as the season progresses. Give me something around 17:30 to 18:30 consistently, something we haven’t seen much of lately, just to see what he can do with roughly another 60 to 120 seconds.
Yeah, the stars in Vegas will continue to be the main act, and that should be the case. But it doesn’t mean Dorofeyev shouldn’t get a little more time in the rink, thanks to his overall productivity.