Golden Knights Activate Shea Theodore, Reassign Dylan Coghlan

Although the team has yet to announce it, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that the Vegas Golden Knights have activated defenseman Shea Theodore from the injured reserve. The move was expected, considering the Golden Knights announced they had reassigned Dylan Coghlan to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights earlier today.

Theodore’s return to the lineup should serve as a major boost to the Golden Knights at even strength and on the power play. Despite missing the past few weeks with an upper-body injury, Theodore remains the highest-scoring defenseman on the team with four goals and 20 points in 31 games, averaging 24:01 of ice time per game.

It couldn’t come at a better time for them either. Even though they’ve won their last two contests, Vegas went 0-3-2 without Theodore in their lineup. The team saw a slight decrease in power-play effectiveness in his absence, averaging 25.89% with him and 23.53% without him.

Still, as much as the Golden Knights may want to unleash Theodore for the sake of winning games, it may be a shrewder move to slow-play his return as much as possible. Injuries for the last several years have seriously hampered Theodore. He has only appeared in 75 or more games twice in his 11-year career, with the most recent being the 2021-22 season.

Meanwhile, Coghlan has been assigned to AHL Henderson for the third time this season. Regardless, he’s only appeared in one game for the Golden Knights this season. He’s understandably been much better with AHL Henderson, scoring five goals and 16 points in 28 games. It’s his first year back with the Golden Knights organization since the 2021-22 season.