When you do well at your job, you expect a pay bump from your employer. You've done an excellent job and it's time to reap the rewards. For Pavel Dorofeyev, it's time for Kelly McCrimmon to pay the piper.
There's a good reason for that, too. The Russian winger scored 35 goals last season. 13 of those came on the second-best power play in the NHL, combining his excellence with the emergence of Tomas Hertl.
Finally! The Vegas Golden Knights have an excellent power play! Now that's a beautiful hook! It's all thanks to Hertl and his Russian buddy for making the unit much better.
Now comes the tricky part, though. He's a restricted free agent after next season, putting him on the market. Fans saw what the Golden Knights did with the latest prominent restricted free agent, Nicolas Hague.
Will that also happen with Dorofeyev? Or will the 24-year-old stick around for a few more years? Honestly, it should be the latter. Therefore, let's see where his next deal should land.
What does Dorofeyev bring to the table?
For starters, he brings his patented hard left-handed shot to the Golden Knights. This is particularly useful on the power play, where he sits atop the umbrella for a potential goal, redirection, or a rebound.
But there's also a shiftiness that goes unappreciated. He serves as a great complementary piece on the rush, specifically when Vegas gets a turnover. It's part of being a rush team, where you must keep your opponents on their heels.
In turn, that leads to some hard Dorofeyev goals that would make Ron Jeremy blush. Give him some viable veterans like Tomas Hertl and he'll become a scoring threat all day. All of this is a recipe for a player who deserves a pay bump from his $1.835 million salary.
So what does all of this look like in the grand scheme? Will he fetch a decent pay with the Golden Knights?
What I think Pavel Dorofeyev will get in his next deal with the Vegas Golden Knights
In a perfect world, Dorofeyev would get a $4 million AAV deal or less. This would make way for a Jack Eichel contract extension and allow some wiggle room for a big-name player like Rasmus Andersson to be signed.
But the Russian winger is worth more than that. He led the Golden Knights in goals scored last season (35) and had 13 power play goals. Being 24 years old adds more to his case, given that Vegas needs as much younger talent as they can get.
I believe that $5.5 million AAV would work here. Knowing how McCrimmon loves good deals that benefit the team, this'll fit the winger perfectly. Yes, it's Jonathan Marchessault's current cap hit (and around what he was supposed to get if he stayed in Vegas). But replacing the Golden Misfit's production (and then some) makes up for it.
And who knows? He could get more than $5.5 million AAV. Perhaps $6 million or even $7 million is in the works if he excels. But this won't mean too much with the salary cap increasing in the next couple of seasons. With the cap rising to $113.5 million in 2027-28, it'll look more like "pennies on the dollar."
There's a reason why teams like the Florida Panthers and the Golden Knights constantly win. No, it isn't the "no-income tax state" argument that salty Canadians love throwing out there. It's issuing solid deals at the right time and finding balance in your salary cap. You can bet your "bottom dollar" that Dorofeyev will be worth every penny.