Though Darnell Nurse and Josh Morrissey have both ended their contract negotiations the last few days and signed with their respective organizations, John Shannon of Sportsnet cautions any optimism that Shea Theodore could follow suit. Shannon reports that the Vegas Golden Knights and Theodore are not close to a deal currently, though obviously that could change at a moment’s notice.
Theodore, 23, is in a slightly different situation than his contemporaries, given that he has just 114 NHL games under his belt through three seasons. Even in 2017-18 he began the year in the minor leagues due to Vegas roster constraints, and ended up playing in just 61 games with the club. That obviously changed in the playoffs, where Theodore was a core piece of the blue line led all Golden Knights defensemen with 10 points in 20 games, but the team can still point to a relative lack of experience in negotiations in order to keep his cap hit down.
It’s not clear what exactly Theodore is looking for, but with the Golden Knights already without Nate Schmidt for a quarter of the season due to suspension the young defenseman does hold a fair bit leverage even in a situation where the free agent is normally at a disadvantage. Without Schmidt or Theodore in the lineup the Golden Knights really lack a puck-moving option on the left side, and could struggle to get it quickly out of their end and up to the talented forwards. Nick Holden could potentially fill part of that role, but has a ton of experience playing on the right side despite his left handedness.
Unlike Morrissey and Nurse, the Golden Knights do have the financial situation to extend Theodore long-term if they choose. While the Oilers are pushed right up to the cap already, and the Jets will be a year from now when they have to re-sign Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Tyler Myers and Jacob Trouba, the Golden Knights have plenty of cap room to work with going forward even after the recent Max Pacioretty extension. If the team wanted to buy out unrestricted free agent years—something that is by no means certain—they could afford the extra bump in cap space in the short term.
Still, Theodore may have cause to prefer a bridge deal himself. After putting up 29 points in those 61 regular season games last season, and knowing that Schmidt will be out for the first part of the season, there is reason to believe that Theodore could easily come close to or even eclipse a 50-point season given ample powerplay usage. That kind of output would set him up for a much bigger deal down the road after he’s proven he can stay healthy and productive for a full season, an opportunity he may not want to give up by signing long-term right now.
If these players love the game as much as they say they do, they should play for what the teams offer them. In all sports. You’re only hurting yourself by not signing
Take the precedent of previous contracts and play already. These young guys jeopardize their reputation and usage with their team if they hold out too long.
You think Theodore will get ample PP time if he sits half the season on a contract holdout, and is only 23yrs old? If I were a GM i’d be telling coach to keep him on PP2 or off the PP entirely until his next contract.
And if you think that’s ridiculous than you don’t know sports politics.
No they don’t. Teams don’t sabotage their chance of winning by benching superior players for reasons like a contract dispute.
no one trains all their life to get to the nhl just to play for whatever is offered to them. conversely, a team wont throw money at players indiscriminately even if they have it. both sides always ask for what they feel is fair and from the sounds of this article, no one even knows what’s causing the gap. you and i may think it’s a money issue when really it could be an issue with term or how he will be utilized on the team.
if players just accepted whatever the team offered then all of these players will be a lot poorer than they should be. if you contribute greatly to something that generates tons of money, there is no way that you should just be willing to accept whatever is offered to you. you figure out the value that you bring and negotiate towards it.
I really feel like he’ll be traded soon, calling it now
Guy is good as gone at this point. If he wishes to stay, I would suggest Theodore pulls a “Tyler Seguin” and squawk to the media, but Shea likely wouldn’t mind leaving vegAss. Seguin on the other hand didn’t wish to leave as he has family and a mansion in the dallAss area, lol. I remember his “tour” of his “crib” online, ha ha.