Speaking to reporters including Jesse Granger of The Athletic, Vegas Golden Knights general manager confirmed what had been reported in recent days. Mark Stone is headed to long-term injured reserve with a back injury. This is notable not only because the Golden Knights will be without their captain for the next while but it also opens up enough salary cap space to activate Jack Eichel to make his season debut on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.
McCrimmon explained that the team’s medical staff or the numerous specialists he has met with haven’t been able to determine exactly what is causing Stone’s injury, and did not have a concrete timeline for his return. That answer will certainly draw some curious glances from around the league as the team escapes the cap crunch they were facing without trading away any assets.
Still, losing Stone is no small thing. The 29-year-old forward is among the best two-way players in the game as a two-time Selke Trophy finalist and point-per-game producer. In 28 games this season–broken up by multiple absences due to his back concerns–Stone has scored eight goals and 28 points while playing a little over 18 minutes a night. Taking him out of the lineup for an extended period of time will certainly not be an ideal situation for the Golden Knights, especially as they are in no sure position in the Pacific Division
While they are in first currently, the Calgary Flames are nipping at their heels with a better points percentage and the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and Vancouver Canucks are all above .500 and within striking distance. With so much time left, it’s not even a sure thing that the Golden Knights make the playoffs, let alone secure the division crown.
One way to help your case–add a $10MM center into the lineup. Eichel hasn’t played an NHL game since March 7, 2021 but is now fully healthy and ready to resume what has been a strong career so far, at least in terms of individual production. The second-overall pick in 2015, he has recorded 355 points in 375 games and scored a career-high 36 goals in 2019-20. That put him eighth in Hart Trophy voting, meaning this is a potential MVP candidate that the Golden Knights are sliding into the lineup. Sure, there will be some rust for the 25-year-old pivot, but Vegas has also never had a center like this to build around.
If the team is to bring Stone back before the playoffs, they’ll need to find a way to shed some salary. That would presumably need to be done before the March 21 deadline, so if they don’t–expect the captain to miss the rest of the regular season. Alec Martinez, the other key player on LTIR, is getting closer but there is also no clear timeline for his return just yet. Robin Lehner, who missed practice today, is out with an upper-body injury but his status for Wednesday is not yet determined.
Going to pull the Kucherov I see.
Can we call this one Kucherov Island instead of Robidas Island? It’s a shorter stay but the weather is much better.
@cjmask – It would have to be in addition to Robidas Island. Kucherov Island is all about Party-Party-Party! Robidas Island requires the “invitees” to keep rehearsing their new identities, similar to those in witness protection. On Kucherov Island, you rarely get pulled over for the old roadside sobriety test.
Don’t think anyones calling it robidas island it’s completely different when it’s a star player going onto the LTIR for season to fit others under cap. Robidas island was more for guys who’s career was over, Clarkson, lupul and Robidas come to mind.
Maybe the company that sold Kucherov his V-R simulator invited Mr. Foley to purchase a similar model (on a team-friendly deal), for keeping as close to game-ready as possible. (Part of the VIP benefits of the Food & Wine Society)
a soul for a soul
Pour one out for Natty.
Stupid… why can’t we just fine teams that constantly use this loophole it needs to go away
All teams use this
This needs to be fixed in the next CBA
Not much incentive for the players or owners to get rid of it. Stupid loophole, but I doubt this gets fixed unless something drastic happens with the salary cap. The salary cap in the NHL is just too prohibitive considering you have 40-50 players per team that are counting against a cap of $81m. It’s the lowest salary cap number by far when compared to the other three sports.
I really just can’t think of anyway to fix this in the short term without some big effects on both sides. Only thing that might work is introducing amnesty buyouts but I think the owners were pretty dead set against it in the last CBA discussions.
Anybody comparing this to the Kucherov situation is way off. Two completely different situations.
Anybody that actually thinks a team still fighting for playoff positioning would willingly bench their captain and all-around best player for no reason other than to insert a player that hasn’t played in almost a year is also way off.
So y’all think Stone is not hurt and they just sitting him to open up space? That’s just stupid
Surprised no-one on here has mentioned the “Kane Loophole” that started it all. In 2015, Kane went on LTIR and Chicago added Vermette, Timonen and Desjardins at the trade deadline. They went on to beat the Ducks in the WCF and Lightning in the SCF. Everyone was talking about the LTIR loophole in 2015. The Ducks, Blues, and Lightning brought it up at the 2015 board meeting in the hopes that the loophole would be closed but none of the other teams cared. So, it is what it is until folks decide to change the rules. NHL investigates LTIR usage, so you can’t randomly make up an injury or fudge a recovery timeline. Teams have to justify the surgery, the rehab time, and the return to play clearance. It sounds like Stone has a back injury and those can be really tricky. Kane had a broken collarbone in 2015, Kuch required hip surgery. Does LTIR give an advantage if used a certain way, yep. So, fix the rule but don’t complain about GM’s using the current LTIR rules to give their team an advantage.
Some teams have had injuries and made lemonade out of it.
Kucherov was different because it was obvious cap circumvention. They were looking at trading away 3 or even 4 pieces of their 2020 team before it. He was ready to play months before he came of LTIR.
Everyone knew he would be back for Game One of the playoffs, so unless you think that every schmuck out there is a qualified medical doctor able to precisely estimate a rehab’s timeline…when he came back for Game One of the playoffs (the first time he could return without forcing TB to break up their super team) it proves the point.
Wrong they weren’t going to have to trade anyone away that year , what it allowed them to do just like all the other teams is to use his salary to bring in guys at the trade deadline like savard and others
The rehab time for hockey related hip surgery is a known quantity. A lot of hockey players require that surgery because of the stress placed on the hip area to make those highlight reel moves. Your statement “he was ready to play months before he came of LTIR” is not true. Look at his timeline and compare it to other players, if anything he worked extremely hard to return early not late.
link to nhl.com
Definitely some revisionist history happening here. It was pretty widely reported and expected at the time that he was going to miss the regular season, but with a chance to play in the playoffs, and it was not questioned at all. The only reason why it raised eyebrows was because of how active the Bolts were at the deadline and the perception that Kucherov began practicing earlier than people thought; people who are not team officials nor doctors.
This narrative that teams are willing to just bench their best players for longer than necessary, sometimes even a matter of months, just so they can add someone like David Savard or keep someone like Reilly Smith in the case of the Knights and Stone, is silly. Did the Lightning use the situation to their advantage? Sure. But to think there is some elaborate scheme to keep superior players off the ice is silly.
Also, let’s not forget that there are actual players involved, players that would also have to be okay with just not playing even when they’re healthy. Do you really think players like Stone or Kucherov would say, ‘You’re right, I’ll just sit at home for the next three months even though I’m totally healthy. See you in the playoffs!’ Come on…
100% agree, the time window for a player being in the league is around a dozen years if they are lucky. No way an elite competitive player is going to bench themselves to fake an injury for LTIR. And what team would choose to be without one of their best players for months? It was not a given that Chicago, Tampa, and now Vegas would/will make the playoffs.
Pretty funny that the canadiens are using 19.5 mil on long term ir and are still in last place – price and Weber’s contracts
OMG I HOPE STONE IS OK IT SOUNDS SERIOUS!!!!
I’m just happy to see Eichel return!