32 Teams, 32 Players: Shea Theodore

The Vegas Golden Knights kept one of their original players on a new long-term contract this week, and he remains one of their best overall players.

Now that the 2024-25 NHL season has arrived we are going to highlight one player on each team that stands out for the season. What kind of player? Well, a player that could make a difference, be an X-factor, be on the verge of a breakout, or just simply be a player under the microscope and needing to have a big season.

Basically — which player do I think is the most fascinating on each team.

We are not going in any particularly order and continue today with Shea Theodore of the Vegas Golden Knights.

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The Vegas Golden Knights still have four players on their roster from their inaugural season, and this past week they re-signed one of them — defenseman Shea Theodore — to a new long-term contract extension that will keep him with the team for the foreseeable future. It not only keeps an original core player in place with the Golden Knights, it also removes one of the top potential free agents from this year’s free agent market.

It is a seven-year, $51.98 million extension that counts $7.25 million against the cap, a nice $2 million raise over his current contract.

There are a couple of things that stand out about this deal.

For one, it continues Vegas’ trend of “sign contracts now, ask questions later” approach that has served them so well.

They are more than happy to overcommit to players in the future and make whatever cuts they need to when they have to cross that bridge, assuming they do not have LTIR options (which they always seem to have).

With Theodore’s contract now in place, Vegas already has nearly $70 million committed to the 2025-26 roster, including three defensemen (Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo and Noah Hanifin) that are all making more than $7 million per season. That $70 million is only going to 13 players. That leaves them with approximately $22 million in cap space to fill out the remaining 10 roster spots, including both goalie spots.

That is certainly manageable, and the increasing salary cap definitely helps.

It’s also just a great deal for Vegas because Theodore, when healthy, is one of the best puck-moving and offensive defenseman in the entire NHL.

Let’s talk about it.