Golden Knights Injury Update: Theodore Close; Karlsson Back?

The Vegas Golden Knights held practice on Tuesday, March 18th, at City National Arena. When the team took the ice, two familiar faces joined them.

Shea Theodore practiced with the Golden Knights for the first time. Theodore, who was injured at the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament in February, likely won’t rejoin the team just yet. He wore a red no-contact jersey, which signifies he’s not ready to return to NHL action. But it’s a positive step in the right direction, and all signs indicate that Theodore will be ready to go for the playoffs.

Not to be outdone, William Karlsson was on the ice for practice as a full participant. Karlsson, who hasn’t played since January 20th, looks like he’s trending towards suiting up on Thursday against the Boston Bruins. He took part in line rushes and slotted in at center between Reilly Smith and Nicolas Roy.

Raphael Lavoie took part in practice as well.

Here are the lines from practice:

Ivan Barbashev-Jack Eichel-Mark Stone
Brandon Saad-Tomáš Hertl-Pavel Dorofeyev
Reilly Smith-William Karlsson-Nicolas Roy
Tanner Pearson-Brett Howden-Keegan Kolesar

Defense

Nicolas Hague-Alex Pietrangelo
Noah Hanifin-Zach Whitecloud
Brayden McNabb-Kaedan Korczak

Notes from Golden Knights’ Practice

Golden Knights captain Mark Stone spoke about the impact that William Karlsson– and eventually Shea Theodore– will have on the team when they return to play.

“Getting some guys into practice today was nice,” said Stone. “We’re starting to get healthier, and that’s what you want going into the most important time of the year.

“You’re putting in a superstar defenseman. You’re putting in one of our best forwards, too. You look at those two guys and what they bring to the table– obviously, they bring different elements, but ultimately, both of them impact the game all over the ice… I’m happy for [William Karlsson]. He’s been grinding the last six weeks to get his body feeling again. It sucks sitting out; I’ve done it way too much in my career. The energy he’ll have to get back in will be good for the group.”

It’s been a rough patch for the Golden Knights. They’ve won just one of their last five games. But Stone isn’t dwelling on that– instead, he’s looking forward to the last stretch of games before the playoffs. 

“We’re right where we want to be with 15 games left in the season,” insisted Stone. We have a great opportunity to win our division and take care of our business leading into the playoffs.”