Theodore healthy, contributing for Golden Knights after injury at 4 Nations Face-Off

CHICAGO -- When Shea Theodore sustained an upper-body injury in Canada’s first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off, the disappointment was twofold. Not only was the Vegas Golden Knights defenseman denied the chance to continue playing on an international stage, he would also miss several NHL games.

“I was looking forward to that tournament for so long, a chance to prove myself and where I am around the League. That was tough,” Theodore said. “At the same time, I was able to get some good rest and kind of mentally prepare for what we have coming up.”

What he and the Golden Knights have coming up, they hope, is another playoff run that ends with the second Stanley Cup championship in their history. Theodore may have missed the remainder of the international tournament, but he’s definitely made an impact in the NHL throughout his career.

Theodore has a career-high 54 points (seven goals, 47 assists) in 63 games, fourth for Vegas in scoring behind forwards Jack Eichel (93 points), Mark Stone (67) and Tomas Hertl (59). He leads Golden Knights defensemen with 19 power-play points and is averaging 21:49 of ice time per game, second for Vegas behind defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (22:24).

“I think just it’s the way he skates and transports the puck,” Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb said of Theodore. “He creates a lot of offense for our guys up front and getting the puck in their hands when he’s up the ice, a good fourth man, and attacks. He’s huge that way, and defensively he’s been rock solid this year.”

The No. 26 pick by the Anaheim Ducks at the 2013 NHL Draft, Theodore has 360 points (78 goals, 282 assists) in 560 regular-season games with the Ducks and Golden Knights. He has 68 points (15 goals, 53 assists) in 114 playoff games. He helped Vegas reach the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season of 2017-18 and win the Cup in 2022-23.

Thedore sustained an upper-body injury after he was checked into the boards by Adrian Kempe at 2:23 of the second period of Canada’s 4-3 overtime win against Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off opener Feb. 12. He missed the rest of the best-on-best tournament and 14 games out of the break for the Golden Knights.

But Theodore returned March 25 for Vegas’ 5-1 win at the Minnesota Wild, and he has six assists in his past eight games while averaging 20:00 of ice time.

“I mean, I was in a pretty good rhythm going into that (4 Nations) tournament and I had a good start. There were a lot of things I felt were going well,” Theodore said. “Now I’ll just try and find my game as fast as I can here and try and build.

“Missing an extended period, it’s not always easy coming back. But it’s nice that we have [some] games left to gear up and get my game together for the playoffs.”

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said Theodore’s absence was clearly visible.

“His neutral-zone transition. His ability to make, I don’t want to say something out of nothing, but he passes the puck, to me, in the neutral zone as good as any defenseman I’ve been around,” Cassidy said. “Just tape to tape, rarely misses his target. He moves laterally so well.

“The second part is the (offensive)-zone blue-line play. The first goal we scored (against Minnesota on March 25), he loses people up there. He’s a hard guy to check because of his lateral ability and his first step is excellent. He tends then to make a play toward the net, and it works out well for us. He’s also good on the power play but ‘Hanny’ (defenseman Noah Hanifin) kind of filled in there. But those two elements, they’re hard to replace.”

It's fine-tuning time for Vegas (47-22-9), which has already clinched a playoff berth and is first in the Pacific Division, six points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings and 10 ahead of the Edmonton Oilers.

Fortunately, Vegas has a healthy Theodore back in the mix.

“He’s going to be great,” Cassidy said. “This time of the year, sometimes a guy that does miss [time] could be a bit of a bonus because guys are kind of looking ahead sometimes this time of year, especially guys who have been in the League. But he’s excited to be out there.”