Knights defenseman shows off growth amid blue-line injuries

Nic Hague admitted it was weird.

It wasn’t that long ago he was the youngster trying to stick in the Golden Knights’ locker room as long as possible. Just last summer, he was the third-youngest player in the organization to get his name on the Stanley Cup.

Injuries have thrust him into a different role this season, however. Hague was the veteran on his pair Saturday playing with rookie Kaedan Korczak. He’s also been given an increased role with injuries hitting the Knights’ defense corps hard.

In other words, the team needs its 6-foot-6-inch blue-line behemoth to keep growing at the start of his fifth NHL season. And Hague has answered the call, getting three points in his first three games while averaging 21:20 of ice time.

His previous career high is 18:40.

“Now, he’s got to carry it a bit,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He’s slowly becoming the guy where he’s got a younger guy beside him. That wasn’t always the case for Nic. It’s a little bit of paying it forward now. Be the guy that’s the consistent guy, the reliable guy, that can put out a fire for your partner when they get into trouble.”

Hague, 24, is one of the Knights’ best homegrown success stories.

He and longtime partner Zach Whitecloud, whom he’s played with since their days in Chicago in the American Hockey League, formed what was one of the best third pairs in the NHL last season. The two were so reliable that Cassidy trusted them to match up against Florida’s best offensive weapon in right wing Matthew Tkachuk in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final.

Hague and Whitecloud could easily have larger roles if they played for a different team. Hague is getting his chance at one to start this season. He started on the first pair next to defenseman Alex Pietrangelo with Whitecloud and defenseman Alec Martinez on injured reserve with upper-body injuries.

Hague then had to carry a pair with Korczak in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Anaheim because Pietrangelo missed the game after taking a puck to the face Thursday. He’s shown he’s ready. The Knights have a 12-7 edge in high-danger chances with Hague on the ice at five-on-five, according to the website Natural Stat Trick.

“I think he’s going to keep maturing in his game,” Pietrangelo said Tuesday before his injury. “The way he prepares himself, just the way he plays throughout the game, the consistency he’s showing me throughout the game, that’s what you see as a player develops into a top-end player.”

One area of which the Knights will need Hague to step up, at least as long as Pietrangelo is out, is contributing more offense from the blue line.

He’s developed into a strong defender because of his size and long reach. He’s a frustrating player to try to get around at the blue line or battle for position with in front of the net.

But Hague, who scored 35 goals one season in junior hockey, has never recorded more than 17 points in an NHL season. Some of that comes back to being a third-pair defender who doesn’t get power-play time. Still, his howitzer of a shot — nicknamed a “Haguerbomb” — means he has the tools to produce more.

He’s taken steps to do that this season.

Hague increased the flex on his stick to 110, making it more stiff after he thought it got “a little whippy last year.” He tested out his new twig this summer and liked how it went.

The results have been there. Hague blasted an 89.1 mph one-timer past Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen on Thursday for his first goal of the season, even though he thought he didn’t make clean contact on the puck.

The Knights hope those “Haguerbombs” keep coming. They need their experienced defensemen to take charge with half of their regulars out. That’s what Hague is doing, stepping into a leading role as one of the Knights’ veterans — even if that label still seems strange to him.

“I guess I’m a little bit older,” Hague said. “I still feel like I’m young.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.