Last season was statistically great for Mark Stone. The Vegas Golden Knights Captain scored 28 goals and 45 assists in 60 games, making him a bona fide offensive weapon. He was tied with Jack Eichel for the most points per game on the Golden Knights (1.22) and was tied for 11th.
Of course, injuries hampered the Canadian Olympian and left him on the shelf. Death, taxes, and Mark Stone getting injured. It seems to be a recurring pattern that was served up by the hockey gods, leaving Vegas without a vital weapon. Cue the LTIR jokes because you know that the conspiracy theorists have them ready.
Anyway, 2025-26 was a banner year for the Winnipeg native as he heads into the last year of his current contract. Fans would love nothing more than to see their expressive leader lead the Golden Knights to glory once more. In fact, he deserves to stick around and retire as a Golden Knight based on his residency.
Ironically, one factor can help the 34-year-old have an even bigger year. Mind you, this one's harder to control since you can't predict when these will strike. Still, if Stone can persevere, there's no reason to believe that he'll build off a successful 2025-26 campaign with even more points.
How Mark Stone can keep up the momentum for the Golden Knights in 2026-27
Obviously, Mark Stone must play a full 84-game season for the Vegas Golden Knights. The Captain hasn't played 70 games with the Golden Knights during his eight-year Vegas residency, with the most coming in 2024-25 (66).
The problem is that the injury bug is rather unpredictable and can strike when you least expect it. It can come in the form of a freak play or a bad turn, leading to time on the shelf. Just look at William Karlsson in the past two seasons.
He had a wrist injury and lower-body injuries during that time, playing a combined 67 games. Father Time has struck the Original Misfit especially hard, leaving the 33-year-old on the shelf. Suddenly, some fans are calling for the Swedish center to be let go next offseason, discarding him as fragile.
Since we can't predict when injuries will happen, Stone should continue doing what he's doing. Plain and simple. Some fans have chided him for being a pass-first player, which will be more problematic without Pavel Dorofeyev around. But he's projected to be in the first line again alongside his usual mates, Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev. Mind you, Eichel led the team in shots on goal in 2025-26 (260), so that shouldn't be a problem.
Stone has shown that he's capable of putting together a 100-point season if he stays healthy. Although the Captain's running out of time to do that, fans shouldn't be too surprised if he pulls off close to an 84-game season and hits that mark. After all, being the Captain comes with having plenty of skill and knowledge.
Duh.
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