Former T-Bird Shea Theodore recounts his own draft experience

Even though he’s still just 19 years old, Shea Theodore’s illustrious Thunderbirds career is over.

Following the 2012-13 season in which Theodore had 50 points in 71 games, the Anaheim Ducks used their first-round pick, No. 26 overall, on the 6-foot-2 defenseman. He spent parts of two more seasons in Seattle, but now moves on to either Anaheim or their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.

This past weekend provided the most tense and enjoyable environment that the four T-Birds selected had ever experienced, and it was no different for Theodore two years ago.

“I had a lot of thoughts running through my head (the night before),” Theodore recalled of the event, which took place in New Jersey that year. “My agent said I would be picked anywhere from the late first to early second round … I just had to think ‘Whatever happens, happens.’ “

Despite playing in front of crowds that sometimes could reach almost 10,000 at the WHL level, the NHL Draft provides a different kind of thrill for the player, one that they’ve waited for their entire lives.

“It really starts to sink in when you’re on stage and you put the jersey on,” Theodore said. “You’re standing there looking at the whole arena while everyone is taking pictures of you. You see the general manager and owners and you just feel really fulfilled. Nothing is over but to just get a little bit of recognition for what you’ve done up to that point is nice.”

Theodore, who brought six family members with him, had a good feeling about Anaheim after the previous conversations they’d had.

“I had a good meeting with them at the Combine and then the day before the draft I met with them again,” he said. “We didn’t talk about anything in depth but I had a good feeling about it.”

As the token veteran on the team who had been through the draft experience previously and knew all of the distractions that it could pose, it became important for Theodore, as captain of the team for the second half of the season, to keep the younger draft-eligible players from getting too high or too low.

“You’d look at these guys and they’d get really focused on one game and worry if it was a bad one,” said Theodore of Mathew Barzal, Ryan Gropp, Keegan Kolesar, and Ethan Bear, Seattle’s four 2015 draftees. “They’d say, ‘Oh, this or that team was here and saw that game.’ But you really can’t think of it like that. You have to look at the big picture. I talked with Bearsy quite a bit. He had some ups and downs through the year but I helped him the best I could and he ended up getting picked by Edmonton, which was really nice to see.”

Theodore had the benefit of playing with a very veteran team in the couple of years leading up to his draft, specifically naming Cason Machacek as someone who had a positive influence on him while he was a 16-year-old WHL rookie.

“Those guys just calm you down and show you the ropes,” Theodore said. “I was paired up with (Machacek) so he’s just one name that pops into my head but we had a whole bunch of guys who were going through something like it.”

While Theodore was away from home and enjoying the summer weather for the weekend, he still made sure to keep a close eye on the draft to know where his former teammates might be headed.

“I shot them all a ‘Good luck’ text,” Theodore said of their communication right before the draft. “I’m pretty sure they were busy with everything going on but I’m going to make a trip down to Seattle before I go to Anaheim or San Diego to start the year.”