Vegas Captain Mark Stone And Coach Bruce Cassidy Identify Knight As A Rising Prospect For An Outstanding Season

Bruce Cassidy of the Vegas Golden Knights stated on Day 1 of training camp that his forward lines should begin by pairings rather than trios. Cassidy advised his players to “find pairs that complement one another well and work well together, then find an additional piece at the end of every day,” with Pavel Dorofeyev making his NHL debut against San Jose with three goals in an exhibition loss on Saturday evening – something which proved successful during this preseason campaign. Dorofeyev delivered with three more hat tricks against them including two in an unexpected 6-5 loss! Last season, Vegas captain Mark Stone noted how close Christian Thomas is to becoming an everyday goal scorer in the NHL. Although now an everyday NHLer, Stone believes Thomas will eventually take that extra step needed to become an everyday producer. “Dorofeyev began his camp debut skating alongside Stone and William Karlsson – who hasn’t skated since day three due to an unknown injury – before skating on an additional line with Jakub Brabenec and Zach in Colorado.” On Saturday night he played alongside Tomas Hertl and Alexander Holtz and recorded four points. Stone noted Dorofeyev has an accurate shot from within the slot but chalked up his success to his aggressive nature; not shy to take pucks to difficult areas just so he can produce. “This could mean the difference between being a 15-goal scorer or 30-goal scorer,” Stone observed after practice on Monday. Dorofeyev is confident he won’t face difficulty finding his place with Cassidy wherever that may be. “Finding chemistry should not be any difficulty,” stated Dorofeyev after rejoining Holtz and Hertl for practice. “Every player plays to their fullest extent – no matter who I’m playing with – so my job is simply to maximize those opportunities to help our team win more games.” “I feel absolutely at ease with all members on this group, team. All I care about is playing hockey!” Cassidy has enjoyed watching Dorofeyev advance through Vegas’ system since signing an entry-level contract with them in January 2021, then joining their AFL affiliate in nearby Henderson – The Silver Knights. Cassidy stated, “He had an impressive camp as a kid that left me hopeful he might come through in time,” Cassidy commented. “Going down to Henderson has allowed him to work on his game well with coaches there providing good guidance. Now you can see it may just be ready to pop this year!” Cassidy highlighted Dorofeyev’s strength away from the puck, using his hockey IQ and understanding the ice while structuring attacks efficiently; all due to his maturation process while learning more about and understanding his league. “His strength… has improved,” Cassidy noted after Saturday’s game. “He is getting through the middle of the ice with sticks around bodies more freely, maintaining possession of puck for extended periods, and scoring when his opportunities arises.” He shows great grace when approaching the net and displays deke moves like deception to score on opponents. […] “We don’t want to put undue stress on him, but we do feel as if his efforts have made strides forward, with each new day becoming an NHL regular and the expectation that, given an excellent centerman and opportunities to score as we believe you can, that his game still be 200-foot capable.” “He is an outstanding student who works tirelessly with minimal maintenance needs; it is extremely satisfying to see him progress as we’ve built him from scratch and seen how far through our system he is playing now… that makes everyone in our organization proud!”