Can Shea Theodore And Noah Hanifin Coexist With The Golden Knights?

Could Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin coexist with the Vegas Golden Knights or does one of them need to be moved?

Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin share many similarities in their play style. Both are known for being left-handed, puck-moving defensemen who can eat big minutes on the backend. Sharing such similar profiles raises the question of whether they can play in the same defence core.

We got a glimpse of it at the end of the regular season and the first round against the Dallas Stars but Theodore was recovering from surgery and Hanifin was playing on a new team so it was difficult to get a complete sense of what they could offer. 

What we did see was HC Bruce Cassidy having more faith and trust in Hanifin to play more minutes and quarterback the power play, something Theodore has done so well for the Golden Knights previously. The next piece of evidence we saw pertaining to the Golden Knights showing their trust in Hanifin was when they signed him to an eight-year, $7.35M AAV contract extension.

Despite sharing a similar play style, the two blue liners have different characteristics about their game. Theodore is better offensively than Hanifin. Theodore’s career high of 14 goals and 52 points beats Hanifin's 10 goals and 48 points. For their careers, Theodore has 20 more points and nine more goals in 181 fewer games.

Hanifin makes up for it by being the better defender of the two. His 6'3 frame and long reach allows him to knock pucks off of sticks in transition and he uses his body to clear the front of the net and break up cycles. Theodore is by no means a poor defender but Hanifin excels defensively and that's why his price tag to acquire and re-sign him was so high.

Currently, the discussions that surround a possible Theodore trade are due to his contract expiring following the 2024-25 season. He’ll likely look for a final long-term contract and AFPAnalytics says a possible extension for Theodore is projected around $8.3M for seven years.

Signing a seven-year contract at 29 years old comes with a lot of risk and it becomes exponentially more difficult when you take into account that the Golden Knights are already paying Hanifin and Alex Pietrangelo large contracts. Pietrangelo will be earning $8.8M until 2027.

No team has ever invested this much money into three defensemen who will all be 30-plus years old.

Because of these reasons, many insiders believe that the Golden Knights could be looking to trade Theodore. They could let him play out the final year of his contract and let him walk for free but a player of his calibre and the return they could fetch for him should be more enticing than letting him walk for free.

Allowing Theodore to play out the final year of his contract would mean the Golden Knights possess the best defence in the NHL. Hanifin and Theodore hopping over the boards every other shift gives the Golden Knights a massive advantage.

General manager Kelly McCrimmon has an important decision to make. If he wants the team to go all out for another Stanley Cup this year then he should keep Theodore but if he wants to prolong the Golden Knights Cup window, exploring trade options would be the wiser decision. 

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