Media Bytes: Dorofeyev, Fox, Smits, Waiver Woes, Schneider
How Dorofeyev fits with J.T. Miller, why Adam Fox is still elite, and whether the Rangers can sneak Garand through waivers.
Welcome back to Media Bytes, a weekly column from Blueshirt Banter. Every Sunday, we’ll help you start the week right with a quick catch-up on the latest stories and developments around the New York Rangers and the broader NHL media landscape.
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Doro-feed-ev
1. Jason Strudwick joined Rangers Recon this week to preview the 2026–27 season and offer his thoughts on some of the Rangers' biggest moves and storylines from the summer, including the addition of Pavel Dorofeyev.
"Obviously, a really talented player. I watched him play a lot when he was in Vegas, [but] how does he fit in there?" he asked, somewhat rhetorically. "He had some pretty good [centers] to play with in Vegas [with guys] like Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner passing the puck. Do they have that in New York? J.T. Miller is a good center [too], but [can] he move the puck the same way and find Dorofeyev the same way as the guys in Vegas?"
"I think getting Dorofeyev the puck and getting him scoring close to 40 goals like he did last year will be a really important thing," he added.
Fox Around and Find Out
2. Strudwick also had plenty of praise for the Rangers' revamped blue line, singling out Sean Durzi in particular.
"I really like him. I don't want people to get super excited, because he's not an elite top-four [defender], but he's a puck-mover," he said. "I think that's really important in today's game. You look at how Carolina played last year, they had a lot of guys who could move the puck like Shayne Gostisbehere. Getting the puck up to your talented forwards is job number one, and I think Durzi does that."
From there, Strudwick shifted the conversation to the health of Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin, identifying both as potential wild cards given how important they are to the Rangers' ability to bounce back this season. He was particularly effusive in his praise of Fox, whom he simply labeled "elite."
"I think I could probably beat him in a race from one end [of the ice] to the other" he said jokingly. "[But] I say that lovingly because the way he manipulates people with the puck on his stick is as good as or better than Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar."
