NHL Trade Buzz: Stone out 'for a while' for Golden Knights

Welcome to the NHL Trade Buzz. There are 16 days remaining until the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET on March 8). Here's a look around the League at the latest deadline doings:

Vegas Golden Knights

Mark Stone will be out “for a while,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said on “The Sick Podcast” on Wednesday.

The forward sustained an upper-body injury late in the second period of the Golden Knights’ 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday and did not play in the third period. McCrimmon told the podcast Stone went for tests Wednesday morning.

It remains to be seen how Stone’s injury might affect Vegas’ approach to the deadline. The Golden Knights are tight against the NHL salary cap but could put Stone on long-term injured reserve, giving them more space.

Stone, the Golden Knights captain, leads the defending Stanley Cup champions this season with 53 points (16 goals, 37 assists). He tied for second in goals (11) with William Karlsson for Vegas in the playoffs last season while ranking second in assists (13) and third in points (24).

McCrimmon said Jack Eichel’s rehab is on schedule after lower-body surgery and that the center will play in the not-too-distant future. Eichel has not played since Jan. 11.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs assigned goalie Joseph Woll to Toronto of the American Hockey League on a conditioning loan Wednesday.

Woll is recovering from a lower-body injury he sustained Dec. 7, when he was helped off the ice in the third period of a 4-3 win at the Ottawa Senators.

How he looks could affect whether the Maple Leafs seek a goalie before the deadline.

The 25-year-old is 8-5-1 with a 2.80 goals-against average and .916 save percentage in 15 games (13 starts) this season.

Woll went 1-2 with a 2.43 GAA and .915 save percentage in the playoffs last season. He started two games against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Second Round; with Toronto trailing the best-of-7 series 3-0, he started Game 4 and made 24 saves in a 2-1 win on the road, then made 40 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 5.

New Jersey Devils

The Devils, who could be in the market for a goalie, recalled goalie Isaac Poulter from Utica of the AHL and assigned goalie Akira Schmid.

Poulter, 22, is 14-7-1 with a 2.70 GAA, a .908 save percentage and three shutouts in 24 games for Utica this season. He has never played in the NHL.

Schmid, 23, is 5-7-1 with a 3.26 GAA and .893 save percentage in 15 games (13 starts) for the Devils this season. He went 4-4 with a 2.35 GAA, a .921 save percentage and two shutouts in the playoffs last season.

Florida Panthers

The Panthers must be “very, very cautious and frugal” before the deadline, general manager Bill Zito told the “Got Yer Back” podcast Wednesday.

Florida reached the Stanley Cup Final last season before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games, and it ranks first in the NHL in points percentage (.696) this season.

The Panthers have some salary cap space and could use a top-nine forward. But they don’t have a first-round pick in the NHL Draft this year or next, and they don’t have a second-round pick this year, either.

“Top-nine forwards tend not to be cheap,” Zito said. “I made a joke to somebody: I need to buy an Armani suit, but I can’t really go to Madison Avenue. I have to wait until it gets to T.J. Maxx.”

Florida is happy with its wardrobe as it is and will be wary of adding a piece that might clash.

“Our bunch of guys, it’s a unique team,” Zito said. “They get along. They have empathy for each other. They care about each other. You hear that a lot in sports, particularly when teams are winning. But in this instance, it goes beyond. It’s very, very important. Without it, we wouldn’t have success.

“So, yeah, it’s something that we pay particular attention to and are ever mindful of it now as we head down the home stretch.”