Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore of the Vegas Golden Knights have been key components of the team's defense since its inception in the 2017-18 season. As original Golden Knights, their partnership has proven reliable over the years. This article examines their performance thus far this season and compares their statistics to other top defensive pairings in the league to assess their standing among the best.
Methods
Data was collected from NaturalStatTrick.com to evaluate the performance of McNabb and Theodore as a defensive pair. All data presented reflects their efforts while on the ice together. The following pairs are also included for comparison (all stats were before Wednesday's slate of games):
- Cale Makar and Devon Toews (COL)
- Dylan DeMelo and Josh Morrissey (WPG)
- Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl (CGY)
- Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson (DET)
- Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes (VAN)
- Jacob Middleton and Brock Faber (MIN)
This comprehensive approach allows for an understanding of how McNabb and Theodore perform together along with their standing against highly regarded defensive pairs. So what do the results look like?
Results
TOI | CF% | SA per 60 min | SF% | GF% | GF | xGF | GA | xGA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
McNabb-Theodore | 324:05 | 49.18 | 28.24 | 48.12 | 50 | 13 | 12.93 | 13 | 13.54 |
Toews-Makar | 465:56 | 51.18 | 28.62 | 50.66 | 50 | 26 | 24.62 | 26 | 28.41 |
Morrissey-DeMelo | 476:04 | 47.19 | 29.53 | 47.78 | 52.94 | 23 | 18.12 | 18 | 21.19 |
Bahl-Andersson | 493:12 | 48.31 | 30.25 | 50.2 | 50 | 24 | 20.45 | 37 | 20.79 |
Edvinsson-Seider | 399:33 | 51.07 | 24.31 | 51.5 | 62.5 | 21 | 14.86 | 20 | 14.22 |
Hughes-Hronek | 321:31 | 60.6 | 25.42 | 58.15 | 63.64 | 21 | 16.14 | 12 | 11.06 |
Middleton-Faber | 454:24 | 44.95 | 30 | 45.82 | 70.27 | 26 | 16.96 | 11 | 19.32 |