The Vegas Golden Knights have been one of the most impressive organizations in the NHL since their inaugural season in 2017. They’ve been around for less than a decade and already have a Stanley Cup championship and are a perennial Cup contender.

One of the biggest successes of the Golden Knights’ front office is their ability to recruit and retain top talent. They did it with players like Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo and Noah Hanifin, and did it again with defenseman Shea Theodore. The team announced that the 29-year-old Blueliner will receive a seven-year contract extension.

The new deal will keep Theodore with the Golden Knights through the 2031-32 season, ending any question of whether or not the star defenseman would hit the open market next summer. The deal will pay him a total of just under $52 million over the life of the contract and has an average annual value of $7.425 million.

Theodore has been a consistent two-way defenseman since entering the NHL. Originally selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the 2013 draft, he only played parts of two seasons with the Ducks before joining the Golden Knights. His career production is largely in line with what was expected, as he has become a reliable 40-55 point player who guarantees his team at least 20 minutes of ice time per night.

During his ten seasons in the NHL, Theodore played in 503 games. He scored 72 goals, added 241 assists and currently has a total of 313 points. His best offensive campaign came during the 2021-2022 season, when he scored 14 goals and added 38 helpers for a career-high 52 points.

So far, Theodore is off to a good start this season. He has seven points in six games while averaging 22 minutes of ice time per game.

With Theodore locked up long-term, the Golden Knights have now locked up their top three defensemen for the next three seasons. He joins Pietrangelo and Hanifin as the trio of puck movers making at least $7.35 million per season.

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