Injury Updates: Whitecloud, Dvorak, Batherson, Rask
The Golden Knights suffered a blow to their back end as head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters including Owen Krepps of Vegas Hockey Now that blueliner Zach Whitecloud has a broken bone in his foot and has been ruled out of their games this week at a minimum. The 25-year-old has quickly become an important part of the defense corps for Vegas as he is logging over 19 minutes a game while chipping in with a dozen points in 31 games. It’s the third time this season that Whitecloud has been injured after missing time with a wrist injury and back spasms.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that center Christian Dvorak has been cleared to return from his upper-body injury and is expected to play on Tuesday against New Jersey. He sustained the injury against Minnesota two weeks ago and was placed on IR soon after. Montreal has two open roster spots at the moment but they also have wingers Cole Caufield and Joel Armia coming back from COVID protocol so they will need to make some sort of roster move in order to add Dvorak to the active roster.
- Senators winger Drake Batherson is targeting a return of either late March or early April from his ankle injury, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Batherson was injured on a hit from Buffalo goaltender Aaron Dell late last month. While normally, a return in early April would only bring a player back for a couple of games, the late finish to the regular season would still allow the 23-year-old to get into the final 15-20 games even with Ottawa extremely unlikely to make the playoffs.
- Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask won’t practice this week as he continues to battle a lingering lower-body injury, relays Conor Ryan of the Boston Sports Journal (Twitter link). The veteran has played in four games since signing with Boston last month but has posted a save percentage of just .844. There is no timetable for his return but it stands to reason that after not skating for at least two weeks once this week is finished, he’ll need some time to get back into game shape.
Injury Notes: Hayes, Golden Knights, Carrier
Center Kevin Hayes didn’t take warmups and isn’t playing for the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as originally reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi. Head coach Alain Vigneault originally expected Hayes to play and he nor the team have yet to offer an update on Hayes’ absence. Max Willman was recalled from Lehigh Valley today under emergency conditions and is in the lineup for that game. Hayes has two points in two games this season after missing the team’s first 12 games while recovering from offseason core muscle surgery.
More injury notes from around the NHL:
- The injury parade continues for the Vegas Golden Knights, as The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reports defenseman Shea Theodore is unlikely to suit up for Thursday’s contest against the Detroit Red Wings. Theodore fell awkwardly during the Knights’ last game Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, a 4-2 loss. The team hasn’t moved Theodore to injured reserve, but he joins Alec Martinez on the list of Golden Knights defensemen absent from the lineup. However, Granger notes that Zach Whitecloud is “progressing quickly” and could potentially suit up for the Detroit game.
- Per Nashville Predators head coach John Hynes, defenseman Alexandre Carrier could return to the team’s lineup Saturday versus the Montreal Canadiens. Carrier isn’t on injured reserve, but he’s been out of the lineup for the past week with an undisclosed injury. In 13 games this season, the 25-year-old has five points while averaging nearly 20 minutes per game.
Zach Whitecloud Signs Six-Year Extension
The Vegas Golden Knights have seen enough from Zach Whitecloud to know they want him to stick around. The team has announced a six-year extension for the young defenseman that will keep him under contract through the 2027-28 season. The deal comes with an average annual value of $2.75MM. PuckPedia tweets the full breakdown:
- 2022-23: $1.0MM salary + $2.0MM signing bonus
- 2023-24: $3.0MM salary
- 2024-25: $2.75MM salary
- 2025-26: $2.75MM salary
- 2026-27: $2.5MM salary
- 2027-28: $2.5MM salary
He may not be the name that draws the most attention on the Golden Knights roster, but Whitecloud is one of the organization’s biggest success stories. Overlooked for basically his entire career, Whitecloud didn’t play alongside other top prospects in the WHL, suiting up in the Manitoba Junior Hockey league instead where he was even cut multiple times. He wasn’t drafted by any NHL team–or even really considered–and was recruited by just one college program, Bemidji State University.
It’s with the BSU Beavers that he started to gain notoriety, and in 2018 after his sophomore season, he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Golden Knights. He stepped directly into pro hockey and was a dominant performer for the Chicago Wolves, putting up the AHL’s best plus-minus in 2018-19 and then led all defensemen in playoff scoring. The following year he got a taste with the Golden Knights and then played in 20 postseason games with the team. In March 2020, he signed a two-year deal that still paid him just the league minimum.
Now a full-time roster player (when healthy), Whitecloud has rewarded that early faith the Golden Knights showed in him by signing away a good chunk of his career. Six-year contracts don’t often come about for players with just 72 regular season NHL games under their belt, but given his postseason performances and steady development, Vegas obviously believes he can be a long-term piece for them.
Given he’ll turn 25 in November, a six-year deal is buying out four years of unrestricted free agency. It also completely avoids salary arbitration and keeps him in the mix at a reasonable cap number through his prime years. Whitecloud will be in his thirties by the time he hits unrestricted free agency, something that seems a long way off right now.
Pacific Notes: Gaudreau, McTavish, Whitecloud, Doughty
Flames winger Johnny Gaudreau is one of the more intriguing players in the 2022 UFA class. He’s not that far removed from being a point-per-game player – a mark he hit as recently as 2018-19 – but his per-game production has dipped the last two seasons. In a piece for Daily Faceoff, former Sabres assistant GM Steve Greeley examined Gaudreau’s situation, highlighting how term will be a big element as the 28-year-old will likely be looking for that one last big deal over a short-term pact that gets him back to the market in a more favorable cap environment a few years from now. Gaudreau is in the final year of a deal that carries a $6.75MM AAV and it will cost a bit more than that on his next contract.
More from around the Pacific Division:
- Ducks center Mason McTavish returned to practice on Friday as he works his way back from a lower-body injury sustained on Monday against Calgary, notes Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register. The third-overall pick in 2021 has a goal and an assist in three games this season and could be activated for Tuesday’s game versus Winnipeg.
- Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud is listed as week-to-week after suffering an injury in the second period last night against Edmonton, relays Jesse Granger of The Athletic (Twitter link). Granger adds that there is concern that the 24-year-old may have broken his hand. That paves the way for Daniil Miromanov to make his NHL debut on Sunday.
- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty won’t play in the remaining two games of their current road trip and will undergo imaging for the injury he sustained last night, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). That paves the way for Olli Maatta to make his season debut tonight against St. Louis.
Golden Knights Sign Zach Whitecloud To Two-Year Extension
3:28: Puckpedia reports that the deal is a one-way deal, meaning that he will be paid the $725K regardless of whether he’s in the NHL or AHL next season.
1:11 pm: The Vegas Golden Knights announced they have signed defenseman Zach Whitecloud to a two-year, $1.45MM extension ($725K AAV), giving the team some significant flexibility for next season as the team is expected to be right up against the cap once again. It’s actually a pay cut as Whitecloud was making $925K on his entry-level deal.
“We really have seen in his time with the NHL team that he has developed into a real good NHL defenseman,” said Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon. “He has earned the extension. It was a real good free-agent signing by us to be able to put him on our organization.”
Whitecloud, who was heading for restricted free agency this offseason, had taken on a key role with the Golden Knights after the team recalled him on Feb. 1. He has since played in 16 games, offering Vegas a solid defensive-minded third-pairing option and saw his playing time increase over the past five games before the season was suspended. He has one assist in those 16 games, but is averaging 14:19 of ATOI.
The Golden Knights looked to have picked up a big victory in 2018 when they beat out several teams to sign Whitecloud, who was considered to be one of the prize unsigned college free-agents after two impressive seasons at Bemidji State University. Whitecloud has worked on his game with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL where he even showed a little offensive prowess. He had six goals and 28 points that season. Those offensive numbers dipped this year as Chicago has struggled more with just seven points in 35 games. However, it was believed he was ready to take on an NHL role when he swapped places with Vegas rookie defenseman Nicolas Hague.
Whitecloud’s role is likely to increase with both Jonathon Merrill and veteran Deryk Engelland both expected to hit unrestricted free agency. And with salary cap at a premium, the team is likely going to depend more on their young blueliners, including Whitecloud, Hague and Jimmy Schuldt.