Whitecloud has successful surgery, listed as week to week
Vegas defenseman suffered an upper-body injury in second preseason game against the Colorado Avalanche.
Stephen R. Sylvanie - USA TODAY Sports - Whitecloud has successful surgery, listed as week to weekLAS VEGAS – The Vegas Golden Knights announced on Thursday that defenseman Zach Whitecloud is "week to week" after undergoing successful surgery on his upper body.
“They determined surgery is the best course of action. We’ll call it week to week for now,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We anticipate getting him back. It opens up an opportunity to Pachal, Hutton and Korczak.”
Whitecloud was injured in the game against the Colorado Avalanche on Sept. 25.
The Golden Knights have plenty of depth options at defensemen, and have shifted around the defensive pairs to accommodate Whitecloud's absence.
The team is using Nicolas Hague, Whitecloud's usual partner, on the top pair with Alex Pietrangelo in the team's preseason game against Colorado.
"We're just looking at different pairs," Cassidy said Wednesday. "He did that last year. With 'Whitey' being out of the mix, we may do that [today]."
Ben Hutton and Hague have played on the same line together, but Cassidy may shuffle things around depending on who is available.
Hutton will likely make the team as the team's seventh defenseman. If Whitecloud will miss more than 10 games and 24 days, the Golden Knight could place him on long-term injured reserved, giving them cap space to call up Brayden Pachal or Kaeden Korczak.
It will be interesting how this plays out in the final two preseason games.
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