Could The Golden Knights Trade Shea Theodore?
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The Vegas Golden Knights are tight to the cap this offseason and must make tough decisions about who should stay. They have to assemble a balanced roster asking the question about Shea Theodore’s future in Vegas.
Theodore was his usual self in the regular season despite missing 35 games. He scored five goals and 42 points and manned the top power play unit until Noah Hanifin arrived. Without injuries, Theodore was on pace to set a new career-high in points. The playoffs were a different story unfortunately as he failed to record in any of the seven games against the Dallas Stars.
The 28-year-old is an original misfit. He had a breakout first season with the Golden Knights and steadily improved every aspect of his game each season afterwards. He’s played big minutes every year for the Golden Knights and has been incredibly vital to their success.
With all those reasons as to why he’s been great for the franchise, there are still discussions about possibly trading him. Kelly McCrimmon has never come out and said to anyone that he is looking to trade Theodore, but looking at the makeup of the roster, it asks some questions.
The Golden Knights have five pending UFAs on forward and just one on defence which is Alec Martinez. After the 2024-25 season, three Golden Knights defensemen will need contracts. Theodore and Brayden McNabb are the UFAs and Nicolas Hague is the pending RFA. Theodore is the best of the three of them but he’ll demand the most money and his style of play is very similar to Hanifin, who will start his eight-year contract extension.
The Golden Knights’ two reasons to consider a trade would be to give them more cap space to acquire forwards and balance out their roster this season or because they fear they may not be able to afford him when his contract is finished and he’ll walk away without the team acquiring any assets from him.
The Canadian will be 29 years old when he is eligible to sign a contract and many teams would be willing to pay him as one of the league’s best. Teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers are looking for a defenseman who can move the puck efficiently and still defend in his own end.
The Golden Knights would love to keep Theodore but salary cap issues, other roster needs and Hanifin making him expendable could be a reason why the Golden Knights entertain trades for their star defenseman.
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