Zach Whitecloud gaining confidence as Golden Knights hit the road

Vegas Golden Podcast How to talk to your kids about the Oilers Justin Emerson and Case Keefer break down another winning stretch of Vegas Golden Knights' hockey and look ahead to their upcoming Western Canadian swing, discussing how they will manage the goalie rotation and injury situation.

The last time the Golden Knights took an extended road trip Zach Whitecloud wasn’t even on the team. Now as Vegas starts a crucial swing through Western Canada, Whitecloud is firmly entrenched on the Vegas blue line.

Whitecloud has not only earned regular ice time, he’s become the NHL leader in a few underlying categories that suggest he’s more than just a temporary fix. Whitecloud will play his first home game in his native Manitoba when the Golden Knights take on the Winnipeg Jets at 5 p.m. today as Vegas starts five games in a row on the road.

“As each day goes by you keep learning different things to help you in games and practices,” Whitecloud said. “You take the learning lessons as they come and apply them to your game.”

Whitecloud is up to 13 games this season and 14 in his career, and the vast majority of them have been terrific. When he’s on the ice at 5-on-5, he leads the league in share of shot attempts (60.5%), expected-goals percentage (70.1) and share of high-danger scoring chances (76.5%) among players with at least 10 games played, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Those are elite numbers, and they say that for a defensive defenseman, Whitecloud excels in getting the puck up ice and out of his own zone.

“When you defend well in the upper two-thirds of the ice and that’ll make it easier coming back into your zone and you won’t have to defend as much,” Whitecloud said. “If you do your job up the ice and break out well and defend hard, you won’t spend as much time in your own zone.”

Granted, those stats need context.

Whitecloud has been playing on the third pair, meaning he hasn’t been matched with the opposition’s top lines. For instance, against the Oilers last week Whitecloud faced Connor McDavid at 5-on-5 for just 1:04, while playing more time against Josh Archibald (4:55) than anyone else. Ditto for the Sabres game two days later, where he saw Jack Eichel for 2:10 while spending a plurality of his time against Kyle Okposo. It’s easy to rack up great possession numbers when taking on teams’ bottom-six forwards.

And while he plays a defensive-first game and doesn’t get power-play time, Whitecloud has just one point, a secondary assist against the Sabres. It’s not a crucial element of his game, but it’s something that to watch to see if offense comes.

“He’s stepped in and hasn’t looked out of place at all,” said Nick Holden, who has been Whitecloud’s primary defensive partner. “I think he takes pride in those little plays, breakouts and stuff like that. He makes really smart decisions with the puck.”

Whitecloud appears to be part of the Golden Knights’ future, but also their present. He’s played in the last six games and has missed only two games since Feb. 1. He’s drawing into the lineup in favor of veterans Deryk Engelland and Jon Merrill, who both have not played since at least Feb 20.

It figures that Whitecloud will continue to play even as the Golden Knights start a crucial piece of its schedule. Vegas will play three of the next four days, all on the road and all against teams right in the thick of the playoff race. The Golden Knights take on the Winnipeg Jets tonight at 5 p.m., then the Calgary Flames on Sunday before a showdown with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday that could be for first in the Pacific.

Of Vegas’ final 14 games, 13 are against teams in the playoff hunt and eight are against Pacific foes. Those Pacific foes aren’t letting Vegas run away with the division either. Despite a streak of nine wins in 10 games, the Golden Knights are within five points of both the Flames and Oilers.

It adds a level of urgency to the Golden Knights’ final four weeks of the season.

“Teams around us, no one’s losing games,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “We have teams right behind us and right around us. I think it’s going to be like that right to the end.”

It starts with tonight in Winnipeg, where Whitecloud will play in front of friends and family, some of whom have never seen him play as a pro. He’s excited, but he and the Golden Knights both hope it’s the first of many.

“I think Zach’s comfortable now, I think he’s going to be fine,” DeBoer said. “He’s settled in with our group. I think he feels confident in what he’s doing out there and he’s playing a big role for us.”

Justin Emerson can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Justin on Twitter at twitter.com/@j15emerson.