Mark Stone set to return for Golden Knights

Mark Stone is officially playing tonight, and cap gymnastics have ensued for the Vegas Golden Knights. Forwards William Carrier, Nolan Patrick and goalie Laurent Brossoit, who have all missed significant time with injuries, have been moved to long-term injured reserve to permit Vegas to remove Stone’s $9.5M cap hit from LTIR.

All three players must miss at least 10 games AND 24 days in order to be eligible for LTIR, starting from the retroactive date of placement. Their eligibility dates are as follows:

Carrier is out with a leg injury, and his LTIR placement is retroactive to March 26, 2022. He is eligible to return on April 24 against the San Jose Sharks.

Patrick is out with an undisclosed injury, and his LTIR placement is retroactive to March 24, 2022. He is eligible to return on April 20 against the Washington Capitals.

Brossoit it out with an undisclosed injury, and his LTIR placement is also retroactive to March 24, 2022, so he is also eligible to return on April 20.

Now, whether these players can actually return is uncertain. The most likely to return during the regular season is Carrier, who was classified as day-to-day. The others had an unknown timeline on their injury. Even if they can return, though, it will require yet another round of cap gymnastics to activate them prior to the playoffs. With only a week left in the regular season after April 20th, however, it’s likely all three are done for the regular season.

With Stone back in the lineup, though, the Knights finally have a chance to showcase what could end up as the best line in hockey with him, Jack Eichel, and Max Pacioretty. It’s a giant boost to an already surging team who looks poised to dethrone the Los Angeles Kings for the third playoff spot in the Pacific Division.