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Vegas Golden Knights: Theodore riding rapid trajectory towards the very top

By Andrew Steele-Davis

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 09: Shea Theodore #27 of the Vegas Golden Knights follows play against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on November 09, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 09: Shea Theodore #27 of the Vegas Golden Knights follows play against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on November 09, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Shea Theodore of the Vegas Golden Knights skates against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on October 21, 2019.
Shea Theodore of the Vegas Golden Knights skates against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on October 21, 2019. /

Shea Theodore’s 2019-20

As already mentioned, there were some fears over whether or not Shea Theodore would be ready for the start of the regular season after overcoming a cancer scare during the off-season.

But ready he was and, after putting up one goal and four assists for five points in the first six regular season games of the year, Theodore only got better and better.

Despite spending the majority of the season with a variety of D partners, including rookies Nic Hague and Zach Whitecloud and then veteran Alec Martinez, Theodore truly flourished and blossomed into a high-end puck-moving defenseman.

Prior to the hiatus, the 24-year-old put up 13 goals and 33 assists for 46 points in 71 games with a +12 rating.

He carved out career-highs in goals, assists, points and power play points (16), in addition to also setting a new career-high with four game-winning goals.

Not only that but Theodore had an impressive CF% of 58.2 and a superb oZS% of 58.8, while averaging 22:14 minutes of average ice time per night, underlining his increased importance to the team.

Theodore also set a new high in OPS (Offensive Point Shares) with 4.2, while he had recorded 69 blocked shots, 20 hits and 55 Takeaways.

But it is the offensive side to Theodore’s game that jumps out the most, with the blueliner ranking 10th in the NHL in points among defensemen with 46 and 10th among blueliners in the NHL in goals (13) prior to the league going on lockdown due to COVID-19.

In a nutshell, Theodore was one of the best defensemen in the entire NHL when going by the stats, and the eye test also backs up the massive leap the 24-year-old took in his game.

And then there’s the power play.

Quarterbacking the top unit, Theodore is rapidly morphing into a power play specialist for the Golden Knights, with 16 of his 46 points this year coming on the man advantage.

Boasting a wicked release while being able to make a clutch play, Theodore is a dangerous weapon to have on the PP and his overall offensive game really is something to behold.

Overall, Theodore took his game to a whole different level in 2019-20, putting together his best-ever season in more ways than one while morphing into the Golden Knights’ best defenseman by quite some distance.

Boasting excellent skating ability, elite hockey smarts and offensive instincts, Theodore is getting ready to entrench himself in the upper-echelons of elite blueliners in the NHL although he is only just scratching the surface of his potential…

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