Golden Knights’ Mark Stone optimistic deal can be finalized

Mark Stone is big into Christmas sweaters and said he has several hanging in his closet.

But even with the holiday season in full swing, the Golden Knights right wing has his mind on wearing a different kind of sweater.

”We want to play hockey. We want to entertain people,” Stone said Saturday. “We want to have an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup, so hopefully in the next few days here we can finalize something, get a schedule and get everybody back ready to go.”

The NHL and NHL Players’ Association reached a tentative agreement Friday on a 56-game regular season that would begin Jan. 13. Under the deal, which must be voted on by both sides, the Knights could start training camp as soon as Jan. 3.

The league’s Board of Governors are scheduled to have a call Sunday, and the general managers also are expected to be updated on latest developments.

Stone, who participated in the North Las Vegas Police Department “Holiday Toy Giveaway” at North Las Vegas City Hall on Saturday, said the Knights have been skating with a purpose during their recent captain’s practices.

“This is kind of like getting ready for the (playoff) bubble,” Stone said. “We want to come out and have a quick start. We know that we’re not playing 82 games this year. If you get behind the eight ball early, it’s tough to come back. We want to be ready to go when that first game starts.”

The Knights are expected to be placed in a realigned division with holdovers Anaheim, Arizona, Los Angeles and San Jose. Colorado, Minnesota and St. Louis also are expected to join, and The Associated Press reported the schedule would be limited to division-only games.

The league’s plan, which includes a seven-team Canadian division, still needs approval from health officials in Canada. Should those teams need to relocate to the U.S., they could play in their own division or be added to the other divisions, the AP reported.

Games are expected to take place in home arenas, and traveling parties will be limited to the hotel, practice rink and game rink while they’re on the road, according to TSN.

“Obviously in a perfect world, we’d love to be back at T-Mobile (Arena) in front of 18 to 20,000 fans,” said Stone, who serves as the Knights’ assistant player rep for the NHLPA. “But for us, we just want to play hockey.”

The Knights were eliminated by Dallas in the Western Conference Final in September and signed defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to a seven-year, $61.6 million contract as a free agent in the offseason.

Stone said it was tough to see center Paul Stastny and defenseman Nate Schmidt traded in cost-cutting moves but called Pietrangelo one of the top five defensemen in the league.

He also praised the development of 21-year-old center Cody Glass and forward Peyton Krebs, the team’s first-round pick in 2019 who will play for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship starting Friday.

“It’s exciting. It’s awesome to have that in your locker room,” Stone said. “I’ve played on teams that didn’t have that youthful energy, and it just didn’t work. You need to have prospects coming in and having opportunities to make our team.”

Stone led the Knights in assists and finished second in scoring with 63 points in 65 games before the season was paused because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Coach Pete DeBoer is expected to name a captain for this season, and Stone is an obvious candidate. But he downplayed what it would mean to be the first captain in franchise history.

“We have an incredible group of leadership,” Stone said. “I don’t think anything’s really going to change that way. We have such a tight-knit locker room, we have such a great group of guys who are coming into the locker room every day, so I don’t think that anybody’s really thought about that right now.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.