Vegas Golden Knights set to use loophole again for the playoffs: Gary Bettman must intervene

Theodore left in the second period after an awkward hit with Sweden's Adrian Kempe. Canada, leading 2-0 at the time, played the remainder of the game with five blue-liners and was able to fend off a late push by Sweden to prevail in overtime.

Injuries have been a bugaboo for the Golden Knights since entering the league in 2017, and Theodore has had his fair share over the last two seasons. He played 53 games in 2022-23 and 47 last season before playing 55 this season.

Vegas and Canada must now both figure out how to play without him in short order. The Golden Knights possess 72 points in 56 games and a 99.8% chance of reaching the playoffs, per Moneypuck.

They've already utilized 24-year-old Kaeden Korczak as an injury replacement and could do so once more following the break.

Placing Theodore's $5.2 million cap hit on long-term injured reserve would open up trade deadline options, which Vegas has done before, most recently with Mark Stone.

Fans are calling out Vegas once again for salary cap circumvention

This is leading fans to call them out once again for salary cap circumvention, beginning the question of whether Gary Bettman will investigate the matter further. If Korczak works out, though, they may do nothing and wait for Theodore's return.

In the meantime, Team Canada plays Team USA on Saturday in Montreal. Flyers' Travis Sanheim will be the spare with seven defensemen in the mix.

Canada could add a substitute, reports TSN's Chris Johnston, but only if they have another injury that reduces their defensive corps to five.

Cale Makar reportedly missed practice due to an illness, so we will see where that situation goes in the next few hours.