With every game that passes, and every laser of a wrist shot that finds the back of the net, the price keeps rising.Vegas Golden Knights winger Pavel Dorofeyev picks corners with pinpoint accuracy, and he picked the perfect time for his postseason breakout. The 25-year-old sharpshooter is on an expiring contract, set to become a restricted free agent this summer, and he leads the NHL with nine playoff goals heading into Game 1 of the Western Conference final against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.More than one out of every four shots Dorofeyev has fired this postseason has lit the lamp. The only thing more impressive than the quantity of his goals is their timeliness. He has delivered his best shots in the biggest moments over the first two rounds and has proven that his regular-season scoring prowess translates to the tight-checking nature of playoff hockey.As we approach what projects to be a massive contract extension, that was one of the only remaining questions about Dorofeyev’s game. As recently as three weeks ago, it was still unanswered.Heading into Game 4 of Vegas’ first-round series against Utah, Dorofeyev had yet to score an even-strength goal in 12 career playoff games, dating to 2024. He had only one power-play goal in those contests, had struggled to make an impact in other ways and had seen his ice time reduced by two different coaches come playoff time.Then suddenly it clicked. Dorofyev scored the opening goal of Game 4. He went on to score what appeared to be the overtime winner before it was called back for offside. Then he followed it up with a hat trick in Game 5 — the fourth in Vegas franchise history.After a quiet start to the second round, he scored five goals in the last three games to help eliminate Anaheim, and in doing so, showed he’s more than just a sniper.Dorofeyev’s biggest weapon, unquestionably, is his shot. He regularly fools goalies with a deceptive release and can contort his body to rip one-timers from different angles. All of that helps him outscore expectations — this postseason, he leads the field with 4.8 goals scored above expected.To linemate Ivan Barbashev, Dorofeyev’s accuracy and shot placement are most impressive.“The spot he picks,” Barbashev quipped. “Every time he scores, it looks like the perfect shot. We’ve seen it in the last two games. The one at home was just a snipe, high-blocker. On the bouncing puck in overtime, too, he just places the puck perfectly.”Dorofeyev totaled 20 power-play goals during the regular season as the weak-side shooter on Vegas’ vaunted top unit. He isn’t the strongest play-driver, mostly because he doesn’t have the foot speed of most elite scoring wingers, but his efficiency finishing on backdoor shots is exceptional. It’s largely because even when he’s staring at a yawning cage, he rarely shoots the puck in the middle of the net. Instead, he wires shots off the post and in, giving lunging netminders little chance of a desperation save.Dorofeyev has an excellent 14.8 shooting percentage over 231 career regular-season games, and has scored on 28.1 percent of his shots this postseason.“He’s just a huge part of our team,” Barbashev said. “What we’ve seen over the last two months, teams are starting to take him away (on the power play), which opens up room for (Mark) Stone, (Jack) Eichel, (Tomas) Hertl, and (Mitch) Marner or (Shea) Theodore up top. He’s just a dangerous player to leave in open ice, and he actually helps in many other different areas.”In the regular season, no one set Dorofeyev up for all-situations scoring more than Marner, one of the best primary playmakers in the league. So far this postseason, Tomas Hertl, Ivan Barbashev and Eichel all have pitched in. And that’s really maximized his impact so far, because Dorofeyev is not the type of winger who can drive a line on his own, which is important to consider when thinking about a long-term extension that will include a hefty raise.