Golden Knights Sign Mark Stone To Two-Year Extension

Stone has played in 400 games for Vegas since the swap, tallying 396 points overall.  However, he has yet to play more than 66 games in a single season for the Golden Knights as he continues to deal with lingering back issues that required multiple surgeries, a ruptured spleen, and some recent upper- and lower-body injuries last season.  Vegas was able to use LTIR on Stone to its full advantage on multiple occasions, a loophole that has subsequently been tightened with the requirement of cap-compliant playoff lineups.

Despite the injuries, near point-per-game two-way forwards are hard to come by and are quite valuable.  Stone’s actually coming off his best season from a point-per-game perspective, tallying 28 goals and 45 assists in just 60 games; his 73 points matched a career high from 2018-19 but he needed 77 games to reach the mark then.  The veteran had a productive postseason, notching a dozen points in 17 contests but was slowed by a lower-body injury sustained in the second round that caused him to miss time then and in the Western Conference Final.  He also suited up for Canada at the Winter Olympics, picking up four points.

This deal actually represents a small pay cut from his current contract.  Stone will have a cap hit of $9.5MM for the upcoming season.  His current deal contains a no-move clause and while that information is not yet known, it would be surprising if that wasn’t the case with this new one as an incentive to leave money on the table.  It’s fair to say that Stone would have have been able to command more than this had he made it to the open market next summer where he likely would have been one of the top players available.

Meanwhile, he’ll get to extend his stay with an organization that he has had plenty of success with – including a Stanley Cup title in 2023 – while staying with a team willing to be patient in terms of his ongoing injury management.  It’s unlikely that either side is expecting Stone to play more than he has been in recent years as they look to make sure he’s as healthy as possible for the playoffs or late-season postseason push.

With the signing, Vegas now has $91.975MM in commitments for the 2027-28 season to 16 players, per PuckPedia.  They still have several pending unrestricted free agents of note to try to lock up, headlined by center William Karlsson, defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, and goaltender Carter Hart.