NHL Explains Not Disciplining Golden Knights Defenseman

The NHL gave rare insight to why extra discipline was not handed to a Vegas Golden Knights defender for a borderline hit against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Nov 20, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit (2) fights with Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud (2) and forward Keegan Kolesar (55) fights with Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins (25) after a hit on forward Matthew Knies (23) at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights were at the center of attention after their contest, and not because of the final score. Everyone was discussing the huge hit from Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud that took Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies out of the game with an upper-body injury.

A lot of discussion was had about whether or not Whitecloud’s hit should have been considered an illegal check to the head and warrant discipline from the NHL Department of Player Safety.

Whitecloud was not penalized for his hit and no further punishment was coming from the league. Not only did the NHL not fine or suspend Whitecloud, the Departement of Player Safety put out a rare explanation.

In a video explainer, Player Safety explained why there was no supplemental discipline. More specifically, the NHL went into extra detail regarding rule 48, the illegal check to the head rule.

The Department of Player Safety analyzes recent hits to further explain the illegal check to the head rule. https://t.co/tUYKKGzNG2

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 21, 2024

The NHL showed a couple of recent examples of illegal checks to the head, including one from Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves, and outlined reasons why those were suspensible hits.

According to the NHL, if a hit’s main point of contact is the head and that contact was avoidable, that sort of hit is not permitted.

The NHL deemed that Whitecloud’s hit drove through Knies’ body rather than his head, and that is evident by how Knies’ body reacted to the hit.

“Whitecloud hits through the body of Knies,” the NHL said. “While there is inarguably head contact here, we see Knies’ entire body stopped in its tracks and driven backwards simultaneously with his head, in a way that indicates that the body absorbed the force of this check.”

In the two suspendable hits shown by the NHL, the players on the receiving end have their head twist and react to the hit before the rest of their body.

The Reaves hit on Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse was a primary example, as was Los Angeles Kings forward Tanner Jeannot’s hit against Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser.

In both of those examples, Nurse and Boeser’s heads absorbed a majority of the impact in their hits.

The NHL doesn’t always explain why hits don’t receive extra discipline, but they felt something needed to be said this time around.

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