Knights sign Original Misfit, ‘core player’ to 7-year extension

Shea Theodore isn’t going anywhere.

The Golden Knights locked up the Original Misfit with a seven-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday.

The deal carries an average annual value of $7.425 million.

Theodore, 29, was set to be an unrestricted free agent July 1. He is in the final season of the seven-year, $36.4 million contract he signed in September 2018.

Theodore has seven points in the Knights’ first six games, tied for fourth-most among NHL defensemen entering Thursday.

“I’m excited to be here for another seven years and really solidify this place as home,” Theodore said in a video posted on the team’s X account.

Theodore is one of three Original Misfits still with the Knights, along with center William Karlsson and defenseman Brayden McNabb.

He was acquired in an expansion-draft trade with the Anaheim Ducks and has gone on to become the most prolific defenseman in franchise history.

Theodore ranks first all-time on the Knights in assists (229). He also is third in points (296) and fourth in games played (450). He scored 13 points during the team’s run to a Stanley Cup championship in 2023, tied for the second-most among defensemen that postseason.

“We are really pleased to have reached terms on a seven-year extension with Shea,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon told the Review-Journal. “He is a core player on our team and a respected voice in our dressing room.

“He has been instrumental in the success our organization has enjoyed and with his skating ability and skill set, we feel he will remain an elite defenseman for a long time.”

The Knights now have a good part of their blue line under contract for the foreseeable future.

Theodore’s $7.425 million cap hit will rank second among the team’s defensemen, behind Alex Pietrangelo ($8.8 million) and just ahead of Noah Hanifin ($7.35 million).

Pietrangelo, 34, is under contract through the 2026-27 season. Hanifin, 27, signed an eight-year extension in April after being acquired by the Knights prior to last year’s trade deadline.

The only two defensemen on the team with expiring contracts are McNabb and Nic Hague. McNabb, 33, is in the final season of the three-year, $8.55 million extension he signed in January 2022. Hague, 25, is a pending restricted free agent.

Getting his extension out of the way should allow Theodore to focus on other goals this season. One could be representing his country in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

Theodore should be in the mix to make Team Canada, along with Pietrangelo, captain Mark Stone and goaltender Adin Hill. It helps that Knights coach Bruce Cassidy is an assistant on Canada’s coaching staff.

Theodore last represented his country in the 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship, helping Canada win silver.

It ended up being a life-changing experience. Theodore failed a drug test at the event, which led to him being diagnosed with testicular cancer. He underwent surgery that summer to remove a lump and continued his hockey career without interruption.

Theodore has dedicated his time and money to fighting cancer since. He worked with Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada and Susan G. Komen Nevada in 2020 to create “Kay’s Power Play,” a fund that helps provide mammograms to women in need.

It is named after Theodore’s late grandmother, Kay Darlington, a breast cancer patient at Comprehensive Cancer Centers. The fund, as of 2022, had raised almost $250,000.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.