Vegas Golden Knights: Mark Stone showing his importance already

Mark Stone has come as advertised so far during the 2019-20 NHL regular season and he looks set to carve out one hell of a year for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Through three games Stone has recorded six points (two goals, four assists) with three of those points coming on the power play for the Vegas Golden Knights. He has been dominant and this could just be the start of things to come.

Vegas knew what they were getting when they made an aggressive move for Stone at last year’s Trade Deadline – an elite two-way forward who can excel in both zones and produce huge clutch plays in big moments when it really counts.

That’s why they parted with high-end prospect Erik Brannstrom – who has cracked the Ottawa Senators roster this year – and a second round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, and that’s why they signed Stone to an eight-year $9,500,000 contract as soon as he arrived in Sin City.

He started to pay back some of that contract down the stretch for the Knights, contributing 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 18 games, before going off in the playoffs with six goals and six assists for 12 points in seven contests.

But the Golden Knights were also determined to bolster their roster with Stone because of his two-way game and his excellence in the defensive zone. After all, he was a finalist for the Selke Trophy last year after leading the NHL in takeaways with 122, while also dishing out 72 hits and blocking 71 shots.

Although he is yet to have a takeaway to his name through three games in 2019-20, they will come and Stone does have three blocked shots in addition to six points already in what has been a superb start to the year for the Knights’ biggest star.

He is averaging 19:15 minutes of total ice time through three games and he has added a different dimension to Vegas’ power play with three points, while he is also logging time on a penalty kill that has allowed just one goal on thirteen attempts.

So, overall, Stone has been spectacular to say the least and he’s bound to only get better with the more games he gets under his belt. He’s thriving on a second line with veteran wing Max Pacioretty and rookie phenom Cody Glass, who brings elite playmaking ability to the table and his high-end vision and sublime passing certainly helps to elevate the games of Pacioretty and Stone.

If that line continues to mesh then there is no doubt that Stone will have plenty of opportunities to pad out his stats line, and he’s also emerging as Vegas’ main offensive weapon on the power play.

He boasts a wicked release, as proved on Tuesday after he scored on the man advantage with a lethal wrister, he has speed, power a bucketload of skill and the awareness to both make and break up plays.

We all knew that Stone was going to be a significant figure for the Vegas Golden Knights before a puck was even dropped this year and, after six points already, the forward is rapidly proving why he is one of the best players in the entire NHL.

And don’t be surprised if this is just a sign of things to come with Stone already on pace to carve out a career-year and, given his talent, it wouldn’t be out of the realms of possibility to suggest that the 27-year-old has all the tools in his locker required to reach the 80 point plateau in 2019-20.

But, what is certain already is just how important Mark Stone is to the Vegas Golden Knights and if he can maintain his hot start, then it could be a historic year for this third-year franchise as well.