After posting a career-high 73 points despite missing time with injury, Mark Stone has secured his future in Vegas with a two-year extension.
Mark Stone has already given the Vegas Golden Knights just about everything a franchise could ask of its captain.
He helped turn an expansion team into a Stanley Cup contender, became the first captain in franchise history and eventually lifted the Cup in Vegas. But the Golden Knights clearly aren't ready to find out what life without him looks like.
Vegas signed Stone to a two-year, $18 million contract Saturday, keeping its captain under contract through the 2027-28 season. The deal comes after another remarkable season from the 34-year-old, who scored a career-high 73 points in only 60 games despite missing time with injuries.
Stone's production was a major reason Vegas made another run at the Cup, reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in nine seasons. He finished the regular season with 28 goals and 45 assists before adding 12 points in 17 playoff games.
For all the questions that have followed Stone's health in recent years, there has never been much debate about what he means to the Golden Knights when he is healthy. His fingerprints are all over the most important moments in the franchise's history, and his 84 playoff points remain the most any Golden Knights player has recorded.
Now, Vegas has decided that history shall continue.
The extension also comes just two days after the Golden Knights gave Braeden Bowman a six-year, $20.4 million contract of his own. One deal keeps a veteran captain who helped build the franchise's identity in place; the other gives Vegas a long-term piece it hopes will help carry that identity forward.
For the Golden Knights, Saturday wasn't simply about keeping Stone around.
It was about making sure the player who has been at the center of so much of their success gets another chance to finish the job.
