LAS VEGAS – The Golden Knights signed defenseman Shea Theodore to a seven-year contract extension Thursday. The deal carries an average annual value of $7.425 million.
One of only three Golden Knights players remaining from the 2017 expansion draft, Theodore is now under contract through the 2031-32 season with Vegas. He has served as an anchor on the blue line from Day 1 with the Golden Knights, leading all defensemen in franchise history with 296 points in 450 games.
Theodore, 29, was heading toward unrestricted free agency after this season, and likely would’ve commanded a higher AAV on the open market. At just under $7.5 million per season, he should be a good value for the Golden Knights, at least for the first several seasons of the new deal. He will be 37 in the final year of the contract, though.
He’s off to an excellent start to the 2024-25 season with seven points (one goal and six assists) through six games, which ranks fourth in the NHL among defensemen. Theodore is an excellent skater and puck mover, helping fuel Vegas’ dangerous transition offense. He’s also quarterbacking the top power play unit, which is operating at a 36.8 percent clip, the fourth-best in the league.
With this extension, the Golden Knights now have a lot of cap space invested in the blue line. Vegas already had Alex Pietrangelo signed at an $8.8 million AAV through the 2026-27 season and Noah Hanifin at a $7.35 million AAV through the 2031-32 season. And Vegas already had the fifth-highest percentage of its cap allocated to defensemen this season. That figure will be even higher next year.
That said, it’s one of the best and deepest defensive groups in the NHL, and was one of the biggest reasons the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023. This locks up the three top defensemen for the foreseeable future.
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(Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA Today)
