Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone ranked 19th by the NHL Network in their top 20 wingers list.
The NHL Network releases their top players in each position each year and after releasing the goaltender’s list on Aug. 8, next up was the wingers.
The list began with David Pastrnak at one, followed by Matthew Tkachuk and Nikita Kucherov. Mikko Rantanen and Jason Robertson rounded out the top five.
To find the one and only Golden Knight, you’d have to go down to number 19 to find Stone. After another injury-plagued season, it wasn’t too surprising to see him down towards the bottom of the list.
With the injury troubles, Stone still scored 16 goals and 53 points in 56 games. His defensive game was still a dynamite and his leadership is unmatched. Combining all those factors, it’s understandable why the 32-year-old came in at number 19.
Some interesting names to appear ahead of Stone were Johnny Gaudreau at number 17 and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 15.
A few omissions from the list that have been a surprise to many people were Zach Hyman and Sam Reinhart. Two first-time 50-goal scorers who played pivotal roles in their teams reaching the Stanley Cup finals.
William Nylander and Artemi Panarin finished quite low on the list despite their dominant offensive years compared to a few players who finished ahead of them.
If Stone is healthy and plays at the level he has throughout his career, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him much higher on the list come this time next year.
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