The Vegas Golden Knights won the bidding war for Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone, who said that he has reached agreement on an extension with his new team.
"I'm close," Stone told TSN. "I haven't signed it yet, but we have agreed."
The extension is for eight years and carries an average annual value of $9.5 million, according to a TSN report. That number competes with some of the highest salaries in the league because Nevada has no state income tax.
The cost for Stone was steep for Vegas: Defenseman Erik Brannstrom, 19, who was selected 15th overall in 2017 by the Golden Knights and is considered an elite puck-moving defensive prospect. The Knights also sent forward Oscar Lindberg and a second-round pick in 2020 that belonged to the Dallas Stars.
Stone, 26, was set to become an unrestricted free agent. Stone has 28 goals and 34 assists for the Senators in 59 games. He's scored over 20 goals in each season since becoming an NHL regular in 2014-15. He's also considered perhaps the league's best two-way winger, having finished sixth in the Selke Trophy voting in 2017.
The Golden Knights are 32-26-5 for 69 points, good for third in the Pacific Division.
The Senators traded all three of their top goal scorers at the deadline in, along with Stone, Matt Duchene (27 goals, to Columbus) and Ryan Dzingel (22 goals, to Columbus).
"My heart was here. I set roots here," Stone told TSN. "Like I said, I loved playing for the Ottawa Senators."
The deal comes one year after the Knights and Senators negotiated right up the 2018 NHL trade deadline for defenseman Erik Karlsson, before Ottawa walked away from the table. Karlsson was traded to the San Jose Sharks in September.
