Vegas Golden Knights’ Mark Stone week-to-week with lacerated spleen, placed on IR

Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy has confirmed that winger Mark Stone has a lacerated spleen that will keep him out of the lineup on a week-to-week basis.

Stone, 31, suffered the injury in the second period of Tuesday’s game against the Nashville Predators, likely when he was hit by Yakov Trenin in the neutral zone. The Golden Knights captain was initially said to be out for a while with an upper-body injury, but we got more clarification that the injury is a lacerated spleen, with Stone also going on injured reserve. Cassidy did clarify that the upper-body injury isn’t related to Stone’s back, which has caused him issues in the past.

Up until now, the only thing out of the ordinary for Stone’s 2023-24 season was that he had been healthy, as he had put up his expected production with 16 goals and 37 assists for 53 points in 56 games. Had he played out the full season, he would have finished the season with 77 points, which would have been just the second time that he’s hit the 70-point threshold due to all the injuries he’s dealt with in his career.

Cassidy also announced that center Brett Howden would also be out of the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs due to an upper-body injury, although on a much less severe day-to-day basis. It’s unclear as to what caused the injury, but he didn’t play for the final six and a half minutes of Tuesday’s game, although that may have been for strategic purposes with the team trailing by two goals at that point of the game.

Howden, 25, currently has 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points in 54 games, which is identical to his production from 2022-23 where he also had 13 points in 54 games. Assuming he doesn’t miss too much time, he’s on pace for around 19 points, which is a bit closer to his usual totals, although it would require more games played than usual.

The Golden Knights currently sit in second in the Pacific Division with a 32-18-6 record. They’ll look to snap a stretch of three losses in four games when they host the Maple Leafs on Thursday at 10 p.m. EST.