Shea Me The Money

By Hieronymus MacMillan

We hear it all the time. “It’s a business”. Whether as a fan or a player, we all understand the notion. It doesn’t, however, make it any less difficult to accept.
For the fans, they/we invest countless hours and dollars into our favourite team(s) and player(s). And then, all of a sudden, the organisation you’ve quite possibly literally have bled for over the course of your lifetime comes and pulls the rug out from under you. Without warning (or reason) they trade away a star player. Hell, sometimes they don’t even need to be a star. It could be any player that you’ve grown attached to. They’re someone you’ve grown accustomed to, they’re a part of the community and now they’re just….gone.
It sucks. But for most of us, watching hockey or any sport is a hobby. For the players, it’s their livelihood. If we think we have it bad, what must it be like for them?

Shea Theodore of the Toronto Maple Leafs has found himself the latest victim of “It’s a business™”. Brought in at the beginning of the year after splitting the previous season with Alberta rivals Oilers and Flames, general manager Led Tasso decided that the veteran defenseman would be a valuable addition to his D-corps. With Brandt Clarke still plying his trade with the Marlies, and no true powerplay quarterback amongst his options, he shipped out Dmitry Orlov, goaltender prospect Dom DiVincentiis and a 2027 1st round pick in exchange for Theodore, with the Flames picking up half of his contract for the remaining two years left on it.
Not a bad deal for picking up one of the more elite offensive defensemen in the league. 

To be honest, the results weren’t terrible. Theodore put up his best point totals thus far in his career (or at least in currently viewable RHL recorded history). With 5 goals to go along with 35 assists, his 40 points entrenched among the top 15 in defensemen scoring for the year, though he was 7 points shy of the nearest player in front of him (Josh Morrissey, 47 points).
However, when you’re the bonafide powerplay quarterback (and for the better part of the season anchoring both PP units)  for your team which boasts the likes of Sam Reinhart, Steven Stamkos, Valeri Nichushkin and others, you’d think his numbers with the man advantage would leap off the page. But with just 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists) it left team management and fans alike wanting more. 

Which in turn leads us to the point of all of this. It started as most things do in hockey circles. A rumor. Both player and team denied there being any truth to it. Then it heated up some more with hockey “insiders” insisting that they were hearing that the Maple Leafs had indeed put Theodore on the block and entertaining offers to trade the veteran. Finally, Tasso admitted on a radio show that he had reached out to Theodore to let him know that a trade out of Toronto may be imminent so as not to catch him off guard when it did happen. 

And then…….well. As we all know, Theodore is still a member of the Maple Leafs as of this writing. A trade never materialised because….nobody wanted him. How does a player, with his own team and seemingly no others wanting him, deal with the situation?

“I’ll be completely honest with you. It pisses me off,” Theodore said when contacted while enjoying his offseason downtime. “I know we’re supposed to answer in cliches and be diplomatic and polite when we’re talking to the media, but I’m fucking angry about it. I know what I’m capable of and that I still have a lot left to give. But I’m not going to stew about it or let myself get in a bad place mentally about it. If anything, I’m going to use it as motivation. It puts a chip on my shoulder and now I’m going to go out there next season and show everyone, including Mr. Tasso, just how wrong they are. I know my teammates have my back and I don’t hold any ill will against any of those guys in the locker room. We know we didn’t accomplish what we set out to do last season. That was then and this is now. A new season, a new chapter for us to go and win. If anyone thinks that I’m not going to give it my all when I’m out on the ice after what’s happened, they don’t know me at all. When I pull that jersey over my head, I’m a Maple Leaf and that’s all that matters.”

With that kind of passion, perhaps Led Tasso is relieved he didn’t trade Theodore afterall. With Clarke now in the fold and set to start the season on Toronto’s opening night roster, this will mark the first time the two offensive d-men will share the ice together. Even if the points don’t come, the Leafs should be taking full advantage of this time for Theodore to mentor Clarke on and off the ice.
 

Of course, we’re still early into the offseason and we know that GMLT won’t hesitate to pull the trigger if he finds a deal to his liking. It’s entirely possible we see Theodore with another team when the puck drops in October. Whichever team he ends up playing for, make no mistake, Theodore will be out there with something to prove.