Shea Theodore happy to be back on the ice with Golden Knights
Shea Theodore is almost back to normalcy.
The defenseman practiced with the rest of the Golden Knights on Thursday and Friday as he comes back from a “minor tweak” he suffered in pre-training camp testing, according to general manager Kelly McCrimmon. He’s getting back into a typical training camp routine after his summer — and life — was disrupted with a testicular cancer diagnosis.
Theodore had surgery to remove a 5 millimeter by 5 millimeter lump and made a full recovery, but he couldn’t train for six weeks afterwards and fell behind in his conditioning. Now he’s catching up.
“I feel pretty good,” Theodore said. “I think any time you take that much time off, there’s definitely an adjustment getting back into practices. There’s lots of preseason hockey left to jump into the mix and get back into it.”
Theodore’s next step is getting in a game, and he said he would prefer to play in a “couple” preseason games before the Knights’ regular season opener Oct. 2. Coach Gerard Gallant said Theodore wouldn’t play in Saturday’s game against the Sharks but “we’ll see how it goes after that.”
Theodore said he expects to have no restrictions when he does play again, which is welcome news for the Knights. After a summer scare their young, dynamic defenseman is back on the ice and almost ready to go.
“I think right now, it’s just getting back into a routine and skating,” Theodore said. “Skating and practicing with the team. That’s what’s most important.”
Roster moves
The Knights reassigned forwards Paul Cotter, Lucas Elvenes, Ben Jones, Jake Leschyshyn, Jermaine Loewen, Tye McGinn, Gage Quinney and Jonas Rondbjerg, as well as defenseman Brayden Pachal, to their American Hockey League affiliate the Chicago Wolves on Friday.
Pachal, one of two amateur tryouts in camp along with Loewen, signed an entry-level contract with the Knights.
Also, the team placed forward Tyrell Goulbourne and defensemen Brett Lernout and Jaycob Megna on waivers, according to the website CapFriendly. The three were not at practice Friday.
The Knights have 35 players left in training camp. The regular-season roster limit is 23.
Karlsson skates
Center William Karlsson, who was held out of the third period and overtime of Thursday’s preseason game for precautionary reasons, per Gallant, practiced Friday.
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Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.