Vegas Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon appeared on The Sick Podcast – Eye Test on Wednesday. Injury updates for Mark Stone and Jack Eichel were provided.
“Mark was injured last night late in the second period and didn’t play the third.” McCrimmon on Stone’s injury. “He was getting tests this morning and is going to be out a while.”
The outlook for Eichel was more promising.
“Jack’s rehab has gone on time.” McCrimmon on Eichel’s rehab. “He’s not far off, he’s not ready to go right now. He will be playing in the not-too-distant future.”
Options to Replace Stone
If there is a positive in Stone’s injury, it is when it happened. The NHL trade deadline is just over two weeks away. Stone has a cap hit of $9.5 million. If Stone’s injury is season-ending, it is a certainty that McCrimmon will utilize the available cap space to make an acquisition or multiple acquisitions to set the Golden Knights up for a deep playoff run.
The Golden Knights have their first, second, and third-round draft picks available for the next three seasons. Grigori Denisenko, Brendan Brisson, Mason Morelli, Lukas Cormier, and Daniil Miromanov could be used in potential trades.
If Stone’s injury is not season-ending, things will get more complicated heading into the trade deadline. The Golden Knights have under $100,000 of cap space available once Eichel is removed from LTIR and multiple players are sent back down to the Henderson Silver Knights.
Coach Bruce Cassidy has the difficult challenge of setting four forward lines on a team missing Eichel, Stone, William Carrier, and Pavel Dorofeyev.
Below are the forward lines from Tuesday’s game against the Nashville Predators.
Stephenson-Karlsson-Stone
Barbashev-Roy-Marchessault
Cotter-Howden-Denisenko
Morelli-Amadio-Kolesar
Cassidy has a few different options to replace Stone internally. Sheldon Rempal may be the player best suited to take Stone’s spot on the line with William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson. Rempal has two goals in five games and plays the type of physical game that Cassidy likes. Brendan Brisson is another option, but Brisson typically plays on the left wing.
Cassidy could opt to break up the Ivan Barbashev, Nic Roy, and Jonathan Marchessault line to create more balance among the forwards.
Will Cassidy leave Chandler Stephenson on the wing?
“It’s situational for Stephenson.” Coach Cassidy on Stephenson playing the wing on Tuesday against the Predators. “It’s not ideal to move him (Stephenson) to the wing with Jack Eichel being out. We’re already down a top center.”
The situation has certainly changed, a lot, since Tuesday.
Golden Knights fans will get a look at a lineup without Stone and Eichel on Thursday when the Golden Knights Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are surging with an 8-2 record in their last 10 games.
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