Mark Stone Placed On LTIR; Jack Eichel To Make Season Debut
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.
NHL Announces Player Assignments For Skills Competition
The NHL All-Star Skills competition will take place tomorrow night in Las Vegas, and the league has announced ahead of time which players will participate in which events. The player assignments for the seven events are as follows:
Fastest Skater
Chris Kreider, NYR
Adrian Kempe, LAK
Kyle Connor, WPG
Evgeny Kuznetsov, WSH
Jordan Kyrou, STL
Dylan Larkin, DET
Cale Makar, COL
Connor McDavid, EDM
Save Streak
Jack Campbell, TOR
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL
Frederik Andersen, CAR
Tristan Jarry, PIT
Cam Talbot, MIN
Juuse Saros, NSH
Thatcher Demko, VAN
John Gibson, ANA
Fountain Face-Off
Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA
Claude Giroux, PHI
Jordan Eberle, SEA
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson
Roman Josi, NSH
Nick Suzuki, MTL
Zach Werenski, CBJ
Mark Stone, VGK
Hardest Shot
Adam Pelech, NYI
Timo Meier, SJS
Victor Hedman, TBL
Tom Wilson, WSH
Breakaway Challenge
Goalies: Manon Rhéaume & Wyatt Russell
Kirill Kaprizov, MIN
Trevor Zegras, ANA
Jack Hughes, NJD
Alex DeBrincat, CHI
Alex Pietrangelo, VGK
Las Vegas NHL 21 in ’22
Nazem Kadri, COL
Auston Matthews, TOR
Joe Pavelski, DAL
Steven Stamkos, TBL
Brady Tkachuk, OTT
Accuracy Shooting
Leon Draisaitl, EDM
Clayton Keller, ARI
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF
Sebastian Aho, CAR
Jake Guentzel, PIT
Troy Terry, ANA
Johnny Gaudreau, CGY
Patrice Bergeron, BOS
Jonathan Marchessault, VGK
Two new events, the Fountain Face-Off and 21 in ’22 will be held outside in the Bellagio fountain and Las Vegas strip respectively. Individual winners of each event will earn $30,000.
2022 NHL All-Star Game Rosters Revealed
Jan 26: After Batherson was injured last night, the league has announced that Brady Tkachuk will replace him and be the Senators’ representative.
Jan 13: During a live reveal on ESPN’s SportsCenter program in the United States, the National Hockey League unveiled their four divisional rosters for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Eight skaters and two goalies were announced for each team, leaving one skater spot open for each division. That last spot will once again be decided by a fan vote, who they can select by voting at NHL.com/LastMenIn.
The head coaches of each team were announced earlier, decided by the teams in first place (by points percentage) in their division on New Years Day. Florida’s Andrew Brunette heads the Atlantic Division, Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour will coach the Metropolitan Division, Colorado’s Jared Bednar is the bench boss for the Central Division, and Vegas’ Peter DeBoer will serve as the Pacific Division’s coach.
Below are the full rosters for each division.
Atlantic Division
F Auston Matthews “C” (Toronto Maple Leafs)
F Drake Batherson (Ottawa Senators)
F Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
F Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers)
F Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings)
F Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens)
D Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres)
D Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
G Jack Campbell (Toronto Maple Leafs)
G Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Metropolitan Division
F Alex Ovechkin “C” (Washington Capitals)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers)
F Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils)
F Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)
D Adam Fox (New York Rangers)
D Adam Pelech (New York Islanders)
D Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Frederik Andersen (Carolina Hurricanes)
G Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Central Division
F Nathan MacKinnon “C” (Colorado Avalanche)
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets)
F Alex DeBrincat (Chicago Blackhawks)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild)
F Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes)
F Jordan Kyrou (St. Louis Blues)
F Joe Pavelski (Dallas Stars)
D Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche)
G Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators)
G Cam Talbot (Minnesota Wild)
Pacific Division
F Connor McDavid “C” (Edmonton Oilers)
F Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
F Jordan Eberle (Seattle Kraken)
F Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames)
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings)
F Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks)
F Mark Stone (Vegas Golden Knights)
D Alex Pietrangelo (Vegas Golden Knights)
G Thatcher Demko (Vancouver Canucks)
G John Gibson (Anaheim Ducks)
Stone, Hague Added To Protocol; Pacioretty Nearing Return
The Vegas Golden Knights had a few absences and one notable addition to the morning skate today, as both Mark Stone and Nicolas Hague were missing due to COVID protocols. Neither will play tonight against the Montreal Canadiens, according to Jesse Granger of The Athletic. Still, it wasn’t all bad news as Max Pacioretty was on the ice taking part and will travel with the team–and could even play–on their upcoming road trip. Vegas heads to Washington for a match on Monday, the first in a four-game road trip.
Losing Stone is obviously a huge blow, as the 29-year-old is arguably the team’s most important forward. Named captain just over a year ago, the two-way winger brings point-per-game production while being one of the most celebrated defensive players in the league. He’s finished in the top five for Selke Trophy voting in each of the last three seasons, including being a finalist in the shortened 2020-21 campaign. With seven goals and 26 points in 23 games this season he’s off to another strong start, even with the missed time due to injury.
Hague too is an important piece, though he was already out with an injury and hasn’t played since December. The 6’6″ defenseman has developed into a reliable option for the Golden Knights, averaging more than 18 minutes a night behind the team’s top options. In 32 games Hague has even collected 13 points, all of them coming at even-strength.
It’s Pacioretty’s appearance that will raise some eyebrows though, as the Golden Knights continue to approach a tricky cap situation. Jack Eichel is skating and scheduled to return to the lineup in another month or so, by which point the team will need some extra cap space to activate him. Pacioretty’s injury would have afforded them some additional time if he was still out when Eichel returned, but that obviously won’t be the case if he’s ready to play on the upcoming road trip. The 33-year-old winger scored 12 goals and 21 points in his first 16 games, but underwent wrist surgery in December. At that point he was ruled out indefinitely; now just three weeks later he appears on the brink of a return.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Pacific Notes: Golden Knights, Henrique, Pitlick, Oilers, Brisebois
The Golden Knights could be down several key regulars for tomorrow game against Los Angeles. Jesse Granger of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that wingers Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone along with goaltender Robin Lehner all missed practice today due to what’s being termed as bumps and bruises and are all listed as game-time decisions for tomorrow. Pacioretty sits second on Vegas in goals despite missing more than half the season while Stone joins Pacioretty in being the only Golden Knights averaging more than a point per game so far. Lehner missed last Tuesday’s contest with an undisclosed issue so his injury has lingered for a little bit. Vegas will, however, have defenceman Nicolas Hague back after missing last Tuesday’s game.
More from the Pacific Division:
- While the Ducks were hoping at one point that Adam Henrique could return before the holiday break, the center hasn’t yet resumed skating, relays Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). The veteran suffered a lower-body injury three weeks ago, derailing what had been a strong start to his season with 16 points in 24 games.
- It was almost a full group of players for the Flames at practice today as all of their players that were in COVID protocol have returned. However, Sportsnet’s Eric Francis notes that winger Tyler Pitlick cleared protocol but is dealing with an undisclosed injury that kept him off the ice today. The 30-year-old has two assists in 21 games in his first season with Calgary after being acquired from Seattle following their expansion draft.
- The Oilers could be getting some help on the injury front soon as Postmedia’s Jim Matheson mentions that goaltender Mike Smith is likely to go on their upcoming three-game road trip. The 40-year-old has missed more than two months with a lower-body injury and would be a welcome addition to a goalie group that has had some ups and downs in the first two months of the season. Meanwhile, defenseman Duncan Keith is expected to practice and could return on Wednesday against St. Louis. He has missed a little more than a month due to a back injury.
- The Canucks announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Guillaume Brisebois has been placed on injured reserve. The placement is effective as of today which means he’ll miss at least the next 10 days. The 24-year-old made his NHL season debut back on December 16th but also has suited up in six games for AHL Abbotsford.
Injury Notes: Wilson, Stone, Boyle
According to The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell, the Washington Capitals placed right wing Tom Wilson on injured reserve, although the move is retroactive to December 10. He hasn’t played the last week as he deals with an upper-body injury. Due to the retroactive nature of the move, he can be activated at any time. The team needed to free up roster space for Garnet Hathaway, though, who came off COVID protocol today, and moving Wilson to injured reserve accomplished that. Wilson’s day-to-day status hasn’t changed. He has nine goals and 15 assists in 27 games this season, on pace for a career-high in points.
More injury notes from around the league:
- Many Vegas Golden Knights fans were concerned when captain Mark Stone missed today’s game with an upper-body injury due to his lengthy absence earlier in the season. However, head coach Peter DeBoer said after the game today that he doesn’t expect Stone to be out long-term. That’s great news for a Vegas team that’s finally getting on a roll after a nightmarish season in terms of health. The team now sits atop the Pacific Division, the place many expected them to be before an injury bug bit the team hard. The captain’s been red-hot recently, scoring four goals and 17 assists in 18 games.
- Pittsburgh Penguins forward Brian Boyle is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and won’t play tonight against the New Jersey Devils, head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed. Pittsburgh somewhat unexpectedly added Boyle, who didn’t play at all in 2020-21, to the roster prior to training camp with injuries to both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin limiting them down the middle. Boyle’s gotten into 19 of Pittsburgh’s 29 games, scoring three goals and providing a good defensive game.
Mark Stone Removed From Injured Reserve
The Vegas Golden Knights are set to get their captain back, as Mark Stone has been removed from injured reserve on the NHL media site. Earlier today, head coach Pete DeBoer told reporters including Jesse Granger of The Athletic that Stone would be a game-time decision tonight.
If the Golden Knights do get Stone back tonight against the Vancouver Canucks, it will be his first appearance in a month. The 29-year-old forward left a game against the Los Angeles Kings on October 14 and has been absent ever since. After registering three assists in the season opener, Stone looked like he was ready to repeat an impressive performance from 2020-21, when he scored 21 goals and 61 points in just 55 games. That was the first point-per-game season of his career (though he’s been very close previously), and earned him a top-10 finish in the Hart Trophy voting.
It’s not only his point production that has been missing from the Golden Knights lineup though. Stone’s defensive impact is tremendous, which may help explain why Vegas has allowed 42 goals through 14 games. Those numbers have turned around recently with the team righting the ship, but getting their captain back would only help push them in the right direction.
Remember, while Stone is coming back off long-term injured reserve, the Golden Knights are still deep into their LTIR relief now that Jack Eichel is with the club. When everyone is healthy the team will have a difficult time fitting everything in, but activating Stone won’t cause a cap issue right away.
More Moves Are Necessary For The Vegas Golden Knights
Today was certainly a day to be happy for Vegas Golden Knights fans. The team acquired a top-ten center in the league in Jack Eichel while only losing one piece each from their prospect and draft pool.
However, the reality stands that Eichel isn’t free. He’s currently in the fourth year of an eight-year, $80MM deal that counts against the salary cap for $10M per year.
The Knights are doing a delicate dance with the salary cap’s Upper Limit, shifting both Eichel and Mark Stone to long-term injured reserve today to accommodate the transaction. They join Max Pacioretty on the list, meaning the entirety of what’s expected to be Vegas’ top line is on LTIR.
Now, this number is expected to decrease slightly as they send some players down as the team gets healthier, but CapFriendly lists the Golden Knights with a $91.8MM cap hit, just over $10M above the $81.5MM Upper Limit.
While the team should be able to activate Pacioretty and Stone without issue, it’ll be impossible as things currently stand to activate Eichel when he’s expected to return in February or March. The team will need to have a cap hit below the $81.5MM Upper Limit at that point in order to do so.
Needless to say, moves will need to happen for Vegas to shed enough salary to become cap-compliant. It’s no small amount of money, either, as they’ll likely need to offload $7-8MM in order to make things work.
Reilly Smith and the one year remaining on a deal paying him $5MM per season scream out as a likely candidate to be traded by the Knights. If Eichel is healthy prior to the trade deadline, it’s entirely feasible that Vegas could flip him to quite literally anyone. They could operate as a seller and trade Smith to a contender in the Eastern Conference, or trade him to a seller that could then flip him at the deadline.
If clearing that isn’t enough, the team could look at trading or waiving Brayden McNabb and his $2.5MM cap hit. He too is in the last year of his contract, and his role with the team is quickly being made expendable with the emergence of Nicolas Hague.
Regardless, it’s a surefire conclusion that the makeup of the team will need to be cheaper when Eichel is healthy and ready to play.
Injury Notes: Penguins, Golden Knights, Avalanche, Wood
The Pittsburgh Penguins received some extremely welcome news today, as head coach Mike Sullivan says centers Sidney Crosby and Jeff Carter are game-time decisions for tomorrow’s contest against the New Jersey Devils as they begin the journey to full health. That’s only 40% of the key contributors they have currently out of the lineup, however, as Kris Letang remains in COVID-19 protocol and Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust are on injured reserve. Still, seeing one of the best players in the world close to full health again and nearly ready to make his season debut is always promising news. The return of Carter shouldn’t be overlooked either, as the veteran forward had four points in four games before entering COVID-19 protocol.
More injury notes from around the league:
- The Golden Knights, along with the Penguins, have been one of the most injury-affected teams in the NHL this season. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger issued updates on the health of many Golden Knights today, as the team has six regulars currently sitting out with injury. The most notable of those updates is Mark Stone, who is still out indefinitely but skated today for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on October 15. However, it could potentially become seven regulars out of the lineup for tonight’s game as William Carrier suffered an injury Wednesday night against Dallas and is a game-time decision.
- Colorado Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen is day-to-day with a lower-body injury per head coach Jared Bednar, but defenseman Devon Toews is expected to make his season debut during the next two games. Rantanen was scratched from Thursday night’s game against the Blues. Toews’ return will give Colorado a fully healthy defense core for the first time this season, as Samuel Girard is also ready to go.
- Devils head coach Lindy Ruff gave an update today on forward Miles Wood, who he calls “the furthest away” from returning out of all the Devils’ injuries. Considering Jack Hughes was issued a five-week timeline today, that’s not promising news. Wood has not played this season after suffering a lower-body injury just prior to the start of the campaign.
Pacific Notes: Possible Eichel Trade Partner, Stone, Appleton
Talks between the Golden Knights and Sabres regarding center Jack Eichel have picked up in recent days, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. Vegas is off to a tough start to their season with a 2-4 record and bringing someone like Eichel in won’t exactly help in the short term with him still needing neck surgery which will take him out for several months, whichever version of the procedure he winds up getting. Seravalli adds that there has been some talk about getting a third team involved to make the financial element work with the Golden Knights tight to the Upper Limit of the salary cap as usual. Buffalo has insisted they won’t retain on the remaining five years and $50MM of Eichel’s deal although they are open to taking other contracts back to make the money work. Enticing another team to retain on Eichel’s deal would be costly – it has to be done for the remainder of the deal and not just certain years – but it would certainly make it easier to fit Eichel into their salary structure.
More from the Pacific Division:
- Also from Seravalli’s column, the Golden Knights are still waiting for some clarity on Mark Stone’s injury. There is some concern that it could be a long-term issue which could free up the short-term LTIR room needed to absorb Eichel’s contract although that’s only good until both players would be ready to return. Stone is currently listed as somewhere between day-to-day and week-to-week which is a creative way of saying he’s out indefinitely.
- Kraken winger Mason Appleton will “miss some time”, head coach Dave Hakstol told reporters including Marisa Ingemi of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). The 25-year-old left Tuesday’s victory over Montreal after two periods with an undisclosed injury. Appleton has an assist in seven games so far this season while his average ice time has dipped by more than three minutes a night compared to his usage with Winnipeg in 2020-21.