Golden Knights Can’t Be This Bad Without Mark Stone, Can They?

We're still waiting on any official new updates regarding the status of Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone. But if rumors are to be believed, things aren't looking good for the injury-prone veteran. He has missed the last three games due to an upper-body injury, and the VGK are 0-3 in that stretch.

Last year, Stone missed 45 games last season due to multiple back injuries, and the Golden Knights subsequently missed the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After coming off back surgery in the summer, Stone was in the process of having a career year with the VGK. He had played in every game of the season and scored 38 points in 43 games. It looked like he was a lock to receive several votes for the Selke Trophy and captain the VGK back to the playoffs.

But against the Florida Panthers on Jan. 12, Stone left the game after playing just 3:57. There was no play that seemingly caused an injury, which led many to fear the worst and assume his back was acting up again. Head coach Bruce Cassidy says Stone's injury is to his upper body, and he is week-to-week.

Injuries happen to every team, but the Golden Knights look absolutely lost without Stone in their lineup. They have not led in these last three games, all of which have come at home, and guys like Jack Eichel and Chandler Stephenson have gone cold. Bruce Cassidy has listed his laundry list of VGK problems.

Surely this can't continue, and the Golden Knights are not going to fall into the same trap they did last season and miss the playoffs, right?

Last night's game against the Detroit Red Wings was a one-goal game, but it was painful to watch. The Golden Knights once again started late, had several dumb defensive mistakes, couldn't generate anything off the rush, and relied too much on the Misfit Line and Alex Pietrangelo.

This is not a recipe for success, and it seems as if all of the issues the Golden Knights had, even with Stone in the lineup, are now being highlighted even more. They can't rely on him to step up in a tight game, given he's not on the ice, and the players in the lineup are all acting as passengers, expecting him to come down from the top row and save them.

It magnifies a bigger issue in the Golden Knights organization, and that is their lack of forward depth.

Jack Eichel, while he needs to step up no matter what, does not have good players to play with unless Chandler Stephenson is forced to play wing and the Misfit Line is disbanded. Jonas Rondbjerg, Michael Amadio, and Byron Froese have not been reliable NHL players, and Phil Kessel has simply been bad.

The Golden Knights did nearly nothing this past offseason to address losing Max Pacioretty, Evgenii Dadonov, and Mattias Janmark in the offseason. And to make matters worse, their lack of prospects and young players has resulted in sub-par AHL players in the lineup with injuries.

There is a myriad of issues in the Golden Knights system, but Mark Stone was doing an excellent job of gluing it all together and covering it up as the team put together wins. Now that he is not in the lineup, this isn't happening, and the VGK could be in danger of falling out of the playoff race once again.

One more game awaits the Golden Knights in their current seven-game homestand. Afterward, they will head to the road for a four-game road trip before the All-Star Game. Perhaps a lengthy road trip followed by some rest will kick the team back into gear.