With less than a month before opening night, the players are returning to Las Vegas to prepare for training camp. Certain Golden Knights are entering the 2024-25 season unsure if they’ll be back in Southern Nevada next season.
2025 VGK Unrestricted Free Agents
- Shea Theodore – 2024/25 AAV: $5.2M
- Adin Hill – 2024/25 AAV: $4.9M
- Brayden McNabb – 2024/25 AAV: $2.85M
- Brett Howden – 2024/25 AAV: $1.9M
- Ilya Samsonov – 2024/25 AAV: $1.8M
- Keegan Kolesar – 2024/25 AAV: $1.4M
- Victor Olofoson – 2024/25 AAV: $1.07M
- Robin Lehner* – 2024/25 AAV: $5M (LTIR)
Next summer, five Golden Knights from the 2023 Stanley Cup champion team are up for contract renewals. Two, Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore were acquired all the way back at the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Since then, both became impact defensemen for the 31st franchise. After their 2018 Stanley Cup defeat, McNabb agreed to $10M contract over four seasons. Before their championship season, McNabb quietly signed another three-year extension. He’ll be 35 years old in 2025-26 and would likely desire to return. The bottom line is, if the organization wants him back, don’t be surprised when McNabb signs a two-year, $4M extension.
Extending Theodore won’t be as easy.
If Theodore wants to stay and the Knights want him to stay, I always assume this is a place people are going to stay. Now, could there be a whopper of a contract out there that maybe he’s thinking about? We’ll find out. –Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts Podcast
Fans will remember back in 2018, Theodore held out for better terms which he was eventually rewarded with. The player believed in his value and accepted a late September seven-year contract extension. Why should fans believe Theodore will accept any of VGK’s early offers?
The 30-year-old will be one of the most attractive defensive free agents next summer. The 2023 champion is in line for another lengthy new deal and there will be multiple suitors. Considering Theodore’s ties to the Pacific Northwest, expect the Canucks and Kraken to be two teams to try and lure him away from Vegas.
Hanifin wanted to go to Tampa, gets traded to Vegas and signs. Jack Eichel, I can’t see a situation where he isn’t a Golden Knights for life. They find ways to keep people they want. –Friedman on 32 Thoughts Podcast
Since 2018, Theodore has the 13th most points in scoring among defensemen. Even more impressive, the LHD is 3rd in postseason points since 2017. Those numbers alone put him close to Hanifin’s latest contract. Consistently Theodore is in the 40-point range and averages 15 power play points a season. In his time with Vegas, the blueliner has recorded 85 power play points. Only Alex Pietrangelo has more with 109 PPP points since 2017.
So where do Theodore and the Golden Knights stand?
I have no doubt they have talked about it. The Knights really try to do their business quietly. Guys want to stay there. –Friedman on 32 Thoughts Podcast
Thankfully there will be no holdout this season but the longer the extension goes, the likelier the player will hit the open market. Use the Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson departures as a prime example. It’s possible Vegas isn’t interested in another long-term commitment to a defenseman past 30. It’s also plausible the Golden Knights offer isn’t anywhere close to what the player had in mind. It’s quite like how the Marchessault to Nashville situation played out. In Theodore’s situation, it could be different. He’s still in his prime and he’s proven he’ll balk at an offer. If the Golden Knights want to keep him, they’re going to have to pony up for what he’s worth, and that’s not a small number.
