The Rangers were plenty busy at this weekend’s NHL Draft, adding nine new young talents to the organization.

Heading in, most of the attention was focused on what New York would do with their top two picks.

Their own selection sat at fifth overall after dropping a bit in the draft lottery, and they also held pick No. 26 thanks to the K’Andre Miller trade with the Hurricanes last offseason.

Minutes before they took the fifth pick, Chris Drury decided to shock the hockey world as he landed Pavel Dorofeyev in a deal with the Knights in exchange for pick No. 26, a third-rounder, and a protected 2028 first-rounder.

Here's how Drury grades out for the blockbuster:

GRADE: A

As soon as news broke of the acquisition, Rangers fans started racing right to social media to try to figure out exactly what assets the team parted ways with in the deal.

Some feared the No. 5 pick would be part of the return; however, Drury ended up catching them all by surprise.

The fact that he was able to bring in such a valuable winger for the Blueshirts' top-six without giving up that all-important top pick was a massive win for the organization.

At just 25 years old, Dorofeyev seemingly just keeps getting better and better.

The talented winger is coming off back-to-back 30+ goal campaigns, and he added a dozen more points to his career-best total last year with the high-powered Knights.

Drury also wasted no time locking him up long-term, as numerous reports almost immediately after the deal indicated they’d already agreed to a big-money seven-year extension.

Dorofeyev should slot right in on the Blueshirts’ top line for years to come and will provide a boost on the top power-play unit, with 20 of his 37 goals coming with the man advantage.

With the majority of the high-end talent already off the free agent market, the youngster is the perfect piece for Drury to bring in to help the retooling club now and in the future.

Popular in the Community