Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone out week-to-week with upper-body injury

The Vegas Golden Knights have announced that forward Mark Stone is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

Stone left in the first period against Florida on Thursday having only played 3:57 that night. The Golden Knights did not go into the specifics of the injury.

When healthy, the 30-year-old has proven to be one of the more dangerous scoring wingers in the league. He has 17 goals and 38 points in 43 games this season, putting him on pace for a career-high 72 points. Stone has missed significant time with injuries during his career, with a back injury limiting him to just 37 games last year. The six-time 60-plus point scorer has 514 points in 584 games between Ottawa and Vegas. Stone’s acquisition ahead of the 2019 trade deadline is still one of the most significant moves in Golden Knights history, with the team’s only captain being an integral piece of the team’s attack.

Stone hasn’t missed any time this year, so this will be a significant blow for the Golden Knights. Vegas currently sits two points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for the Pacific Division lead and one point ahead of Dallas for first in the Western Conference. Many pegged the Golden Knights as a team doomed to miss the playoffs after doing the same last year. The club traded Max Pacioretty in a cap dump and lost starting goaltender Robin Lehner to a season-long injury. That put pressure on the team’s veteran leadership core to stand up, and they’ve done that and much more.

Stone had been playing on Vegas’ second line with Chandler Stephenson and Mike Amadio, so it’ll be interesting to see who moves around. Phil Kessel is an easy option to move up, but the Golden Knights will hope Stone’s injury isn’t long-term.