Right is might for Golden Knights’ Shea Theodore

Moving a few feet changed Shea Theodore’s world on Feb. 16.

Before that day, the left-handed shooting defenseman had always played on the left side in the NHL. But a simple shift across the blue line brought out the best in the 23-year-old and allowed him to flourish as one of the Golden Knights’ most dangerous weapons.

“I quite enjoy it,” Theodore said. “I think I’m a little bit more comfortable on the offensive blue line on the right side. I think it allows me to be a real threat to shoot and try to make other plays.”

Theodore’s skills have never been in question. That’s why the Knights handed him a seven-year, $36.4 million deal before the 2018-19 season even began.

The trick is getting him to showcase them while staying responsible defensively. Through 58 games Theodore led the team’s defensemen with 25 points, but he was minus-8, a lowly performance for a player not on the penalty kill unit.

The Knights decided to look to Theodore’s past in Seattle for a solution. That’s where Theodore scored more than a point-per-game in his last two junior seasons with the Western Hockey League’s Thunderbirds, but on the right side of the blue line.

After that he played mainly on the left in the American Hockey League and exclusively on that side in the NHL until the Knights tried something new Feb. 16 against the Nashville Predators.

“It’s definitely a bigger change than it looks,” said defenseman Nate Schmidt, who has played both sides in the NHL. “The way the game opens up, what plays are there, what’s available through the neutral zone, how you can play in the offensive zone, these are all things that are different.”

Different was good for Theodore because playing on the right side as a left-shot player allowed him to showcase his style even more. His stick blade started pointing to the middle of the ice, rather than the side boards, making it easier for him to get passes and shots off.

He scored 12 points and was a plus-4 in his first 21 games on the right, and he even did a good job making sure his team kept the puck. It’s hard for a left-shot defenseman to hold the offensive zone on the right side with their blade away from the boards, but Theodore and partner Brayden McNabb’s numbers in possession metrics — whether it was Corsi, Fenwick or Shot Attempts Percentage — improved after the switch.

Not bad for a guy playing a new position in the NHL for the first time.

“It opened up a bit more offense for him,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “He’s seeing the ice better. I think he plays real good on the left side also, but he’s confident right now and he’s playing real well. Whether it was just coincidental that it happened at that time of the year, I don’t know, but he’s definitely playing real good hockey on the right side.”

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Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.