Vegas Golden Knights: Mark Stone named as one of NHL’s Top 20 Wings

Mark Stone has been recognised as one of the elite wings in the NHL after the Vegas Golden Knights forward was included in the NHL Network’s Top 20 Wings list.

The NHL Network continued their nine-part series on Sunday as they reveal the best players currently plying their trade in the NHL. Last week they looked at the Top 20 Centers in the majors, while this week they turned their attention to the Top 20 Wings.

Based on highlight-reel goals and plays, eye-popping passes and the ability to get to the net with sublime skating, the NHL Network revealed who they consider to be the 20 best wings in the NHL today, while they also put together a list of five players who just missed out on making the main list.

Unlike the Top 20 Centers list where William Karlsson didn’t make the cut, the Vegas Golden Knights were represented in the Top 20 Wings Power Rankings with Mark Stone coming in at No.13. Now, before we look at whether the two-way forward should have been higher, let’s see who else made the list.

Here is the NHL Network’s Top 20 Wings List in full:

1. Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks
3. Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals
4. Brad Marchand – Boston Bruins
5. Mitch Marner – Toronto Maple Leafs
6. Leon Draisaitl – Edmonton Oilers
7. Johnny Gaudreau – Calgary Flames
8. Artemi Panarin – New York Rangers
9. Mikko Rantanen – Colorado Avalanche
10. David Pastrnak – Boston Bruins
11. Blake Wheeler – Winnipeg Jets
12. Claude Giroux – Philadelphia Flyers
13. Mark Stone – Vegas Golden Knights
14. Vladimir Tarasenko – St. Louis Blues
15. Taylor Hall – New Jersey Devils
16. Jonathan Huberdeau – Florida Panthers
17. Matthew Tkachuk – Calgary Flames
18. Gabriel Landeskog – Colorado Avalanche
19. Patrik Laine – Winnipeg Jets
20. Phil Kessel – Arizona Coyotes

And now here are the five players that just missed out on breaking into the Top 20:

1. Alex DeBrincat – Chicago Blackhawks
2. Joe Pavelski – Dallas Stars
3. Jamie Benn – Dallas Stars
4. Jake Guentzel – Pittsburgh Penguins
5. Elias Lindholm – Calgary Flames

There is enough firepower and star power in that Top 20 List alone to sink a small battleship, and the top five in particular isn’t a surprise. Nikita Kucherov is the reigning Hart Trophy winner after carving out a historic year in 2018-19, posting 41 goals and 87 assists for 128 points. Patrick Kane, who comes in at No.2 on the list, has been lighting up the NHL for years now and he was at the peak of his powers last season, tallying a career-high 110 points (44 goals, 66 assists).

Alex Ovechkin will go down as one of the best snipers of all time in NHL history and his spot at No.3 is well deserved, especially when you consider that he is now just behind the great Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy after scoring at least 50 goals in each of the last eight seasons. Both Gretzky and Bossy achieved that feat nine times. Brad Marchand and Mitch Marner rounded out the Top 5 after the pair totalled 100 points and 94 points respectively last year.

Stone, meanwhile, comes in at No.13 following a vintage year for both the Golden Knights and the Ottawa Senators in 2018-19, finishing the season with 33 goals and 40 assists for 73 points in 77 regular season games, in addition to 20 power play points and a further 12 points (six goals, six assists) in the postseason.

In addition to his prowess in the offensive zone, Stone has also established himself as one of the elite two-way forwards in the NHL and he finished second in Selke Trophy voting behind St. Louis Blues’ center Ryan O’Reilly after leading the NHL in takeaways with 122, in addition to having a winning percentage of 45.2 in the faceoff circle, blocking 71 shots and dishing out 72 hits.

Stone was sensational all-round last year and he should rightly be considered one of the best wings in hockey. However, should he have been ranked higher than 13th? There is compelling evidence to suggest that he should have been bumped up at least a few spots.

Although his points total doesn’t compare to the players sitting above him in the NHL Network’s list, Stone brings more to the party than just scoring goals and creating chances for his team-mates. For starters, his body of work is a lot bigger than the likes of Mitch Marner, Johnny Gaudreau, Leon Draisaitl, Artemi Panarin, Mikko Rantanen and David Pastrnak, who all sit inside the Top 10.

Not only that, but Stone excels in both zones and he has led the NHL in takeaways in four of the last five seasons. He can hit like a train, he can thrive in the faceoff circle and he can be relied upon to come up clutch for his team in both zones. The 27-year-old has also potted at least 20 goals in five consecutive seasons and his 73 points last year was a career-high.

Plus, another caveat at play here is the fact that for half the year Stone was playing on a woeful Ottawa team and he still racked up 62 points (28 goals and 34 assists) in 59 games before being traded to the Golden Knights at the Trade Deadline. Just imagine the damage he could have done in terms of points were he in Sin City for the duration of 2018-19.

In conclusion, you could put forward a strong argument that Stone should have jumped into the Top 10 ahead of the likes of Mikko Rantanen, Leon Draisaitl and David Pastrnak, although it is clear that the offensive production by those three in the last couple of years have taken precedence over everything else.

However, should Stone enjoy another dominant year in both zones in 2019-20 in what will be his first-full season with the Vegas Golden Knights, then it would be worth betting that the elite forward will be a lot higher in next year’s list.

The NHL Network will reveal their Top 20 Defensemen next Sunday and it will be interesting to see if any Vegas Golden Knights players crack the list, with Shea Theodore a potential dark horse candidate.