Mark Stone fires shots at his teammates for their poor performance
After their elimination from the first round this year, Mark Stone had some blunt comments on the Golden Knight's performance down the stretch.
The Las Vegas Golden Knights were looking to make another long run in the playoffs this season, with hopes of becoming back-to-back champions. However, after a sluggish end to the regular season, the Knights were unable to pick it up in the playoffs and ended up being bounced by the Dallas Stars in the first round.
After elimination, Knights captain Mark Stone talked to the media, sharing his disappointment in his team's performance near the end of the regular season, hoping that they would have gotten into a better position before the playoffs started.
This comment comes after Stone and the Knights have been widely criticized for their use of LTIR to avoid the salary cap, and essentially paid the price for having their best player sit out since February. Now, some are speculating that Stone has significantly hurt his reputation as a hockey player.
Outside of Vegas, he gets no respect and will always be tainted as a cap circumventer/ cheater.
If the Golden Knights had of gone all the way to the Cup finals again this season, people would be calling for significant rule changes regarding the Cap. However, it looks like maybe their strategy of putting their best guy on LTIR didn't work out this year, and they will have to rethink it moving forward.
As seen on Blade Of Steel - Mark Stone unhappy with how his team handled the regular season
| POLL | ||
MAI 6 | 206 ANSWERS Mark Stone fires shots at his teammates for their poor performance Do you think Mark Stone and the Vegas Golden Knights will rethink their LTIR strategy? | ||
| Yes | 78 | 37.9 % |
| No | 128 | 62.1 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Jason Robertson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Chandler Stephenson | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jalen Chatfield | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Roope Hintz | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Wyatt Johnston | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Montour | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| William Nylander | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jaden Schwartz | - | 2 | 2 | |
| John Tavares | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jamie Benn | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Evgeny Dadonov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Yanni Gourde | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Pontus Holmberg | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Fraser Minten | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ryan Poehling | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Roslovic | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Daniel Sprong | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 18 | 14 | 4 | - | 28 | |
Capitals | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 27 | |
Wild | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 27 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Devils | 21 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
Stars | 18 | 12 | 6 | - | 24 | |
Golden Knights | 19 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 24 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||