Graney: Knights defenseman turns in career-best season despite injury

Shea Theodore is back healthy and playing like it.

Bad news for playoff opponents.

He has had his best year as an NHL player, the Golden Knights defenseman totaling a career-high in points with 57 in 67 games.

It’s no surprise to those who know him best.

Who skate alongside him daily.

“He’s just that good,” fellow defenseman Nic Hague said. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence. He skates so well, thinks the game so well. We see it all the time. He’s that gifted. He puts in the time and effort and that with his God-given ability … it’s fun to watch. He’s up there with the best in the league.”

Serious injury

What wasn’t fun: Theodore broke his right wrist while playing for Team Canada in the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off on Feb 12.

It cost him the rest of the tournament as well as 14 games with the Knights.

But Theodore has rounded into form since and continued a season that has been second to none for one of the remaining Original Misfits. He has shined at both ends of the ice for a team that opens the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Minnesota Wild at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

“His all-around game is better,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “(Theodore’s) mobility gives us that threat from the o-zone blue line. … For him, it’s about trying to catch up since (the injury) and for the lost time. Every game will get him a little bit cleaner.”

Theodore missed three months last season following surgery for an upper-body injury and has dealt with some kind of ailment the past three years. But he returned from this latest setback playing as well as ever.

Cassidy even put Theodore in some key spots defensively. Theodore, who normally doesn’t play short-handed, blocked a shot on the penalty kill April 8 against Colorado and center William Karlsson went the other way for a goal.

Theodore was also trusted to play in the final minute of the Knights’ 5-3 win over Nashville on April 12.

“He’s building his game that way,” Cassidy said.

Theodore, if not for his injury, would be challenging for a top-three finish in the Norris Trophy voting. But he’ll take another deep playoff run over any individual honor. And the Knights have a chance to make one with him back in the lineup.

Elite puck play

The team showed its faith in Theodore in October by signing him to a seven-year, $51.975 million extension. That contract still makes him a bargain for the value he provides.

“I always never underestimate what that does for a player,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “It’s a commitment from player to team and team to player. It gives clarity to where he’s potentially going to finish his career.

“He’s a husband and a father. I just think at this point in his life, the contract really gave him security and one thing he doesn’t have to worry about. I think that translates to performance.”

McCrimmon only sees Theodore getting better because his skating is so good and his transition play and puck play is elite.

Theodore also has a wonderful on-ice partnership with defenseman Brayden McNabb. There’s no reason he can’t continue to be a core piece for the Knights for years to come.

“There are going to be highs and lows with any season,” Theodore said. “You’re just looking for consistency in your game. I think things have gone pretty well since coming back.”

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.