Anaheim Ducks Select Defenseman Shea Theodore With the 26th Overall Pick

Shea Theodore, a defenseman, stands with officials from the Anaheim Ducks sweater after being chosen 26th overall in the first round of the NHL hockey draft, Sunday, June 30, 2013, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun via bigstory.ap.org)

Sorry for the lateness of this but with the 26th pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, the Anaheim Ducks selected from the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL), defenseman Shea Theodore. The 6’2″-178 lb defenseman is from Aldergrove, British Columbia. The 17-year-old is coming off his second full year with the Thunderbirds of the WHL. In his two full seasons in Seattle, he has racked up 23 goals and 62 assists for 85 points in 140 games played. Last year was his best when he put up 19 goals and 31 assists for 50 points in 71 games played. However good his offensive numbers have looked, his plus/minus is dreadful. In his first year, he was -36 in 69 games played and this past year he was -24 in 71 games played. He is on a Thunderbirds team that isn’t exactly one of the better programs in the WHL, though.

He is purely an offensive-defenseman. Central Scouting had Theodore ranked 11th among North American skaters and he could’ve been higher if he was better in his own zone. See, that last sentence is what I like to call a “Wheeler” statement. It is named after a baseball analyst who says things like this, “The (insert team name here)’s lose today 11-2. However, if it wasn’t for the ten-run fifth inning, the (same team name here)’s could’ve won.” Just incredibly dumb. Okay, I digress. He has good puck skills and good passing abilities. He quarterbacks the Seattle powerplays. He’s got a good hockey IQ, as well. However, he isn’t physical and needs to put on some weight and fill out, much like every other prospect.

Just like last year, the Ducks and GM Bob Murray went kind of “off the board” with their first round pick. When they picked Hampus Lindholm last season, many of the Ducks fans had the same reaction: “what?” It is was the same sort of situation yesterday, just a little bit less-shocking that last year. I had a feeling they would go defense with this pick, however, there were a couple of other defenseman that I thought would be better fits, such as Robert Hagg or Ian McCoshen. There were also some forwards available at the time that the Ducks also could have gone with, such as Adam Erne, Morgan Klimchuk, Ryan Hartman, or Jacob De La Rose. Only time will tell how well this pick will work out for the Ducks as well as Theodore.

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