Golden Knights’ Shea Theodore to make preseason debut vs. Kings

Defenseman Shea Theodore makes his preseason debut Friday when the Golden Knights host the Los Angeles Kings in a preseason game.

Opening faceoff at T-Mobile Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game is televised on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.

Theodore missed almost two weeks of training camp while waiting to sign a contract, and he finalized a seven-year, $36.4 million deal Monday.

“It’s good to have him back,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “You miss a character kid like that when he’s not with your group for the first week and a half, and they got him back and they’re having fun. They’re ribbing him pretty good.”

The Knights will ice a team closely resembling the one they’ll use on opening night Thursday against Philadelphia, though center Cody Eakin remains day to day with a lower-body injury.

Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start in net.

The Knights drubbed the Kings 7-2 on Sept. 20 in Los Angeles, as the top line of William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith combined for four goals and 11 points.

Several regulars for the Kings are not expected to dress, including defenseman Drew Doughty and center Anze Kopitar.

“I hope we come out and get ready to play and start real well,” Gallant said. “But again, it’s not about winning and losing. I hope we play well. They had a couple of fun days up in Montana, so hopefully that’s beyond them and they’re ready to play a good hockey game. We’ll see where it goes.”

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault-William Karlsson-Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty-Paul Stastny-Erik Haula

Tomas Nosek-Ryan Carpenter-Alex Tuch

William Carrier-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Ryan Reaves

Defense

Brayden McNabb-Colin Miller

Shea Theodore-Deryk Engelland

Jon Merrill-Nick Holden

Goaltender

Marc-Andre Fleury

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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.