Former Brandon Wheat King star Mark Stone has been acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights in a blockbuster NHL trade deadline day move:
The Winnipeg-born Stone played four seasons in the Wheat City, netting 106 goals and 296 points over four seasons before turning pro with the Senators organization. With Ottawa he has become one of the top 2-way wingers in the game and this season has 62 points in 59 games.
Set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, much speculation has surrounded what the future may hold with the prospect of a trade appearing more and more like a possibility in recent weeks. Right into Monday there had been much talk in sports media that Stone may end up joining his hometown Winnipeg Jets, who ended up acquiring Centre Kevin Hayes on Monday morning. He now joins a team in Vegas that has a realistic chance at challenging for the Stanley Cup in comparison to the rebuilding Senators.
Stone becomes the latest in a long line of Wheat King-connections to join Golden Knights’ Assistant GM and Wheat King Owner/Governor Kelly McCrimmon in Vegas, a connection that the local hockey club made a point of this afternoon:
No word on how soon he will be in the lineup with his new club, but safe to say preference would be for it to be sooner rather that later after having been a healthy scratch for the past three games to protect against injury in the event of a trade.Stone’s former Wheat King teammate Michael Ferland, a pending free agent himself, remained a member of Carolina despite having his own name come up in no shortage of rumours.