Mark Stone Likely Having Back Surgery on Wednesday, Lehner Doing Well

On Tuesday, during the Vegas Golden Knights media conference after firing head coach Peter DeBoer, general manager Kelly McCrimmon provided two key injury updates on two players. These players are captain Mark Stone, and goaltender Robin Lehner, who will both have offseason surgery this summer.

Lehner, left the Golden Knights on April 25th to have shoulder surgery after multiple reports stated that he would be having the surgery earlier in the season.

In 44 games, Lehner put up a save percentage of .907% and a 2.83 goals-against average in 2021-22. He won 23 games, but he struggled with both consistency and injuries in his first season since taking over as the full-fledged Golden Knights starter over Marc-Andre Fleury.

“The surgery went well as far as we know. I don’t think we are going to know a timeline until we get a month into the rehab,” said McCrimmon on Lehner’s current situation.

Lehner has three years left on his five-year $25 million deal that has a cap hit of $5 million. Backup goaltender Laurent Brossoit is also having an offseason medical procedure as he missed lengthy portions of the 2021-22 season as well.

As for Stone, all signs are pointing towards the Golden Knights captain having back surgery in LA on Wednesday. McCrimmon says that this is a good thing as Stone should be ready for training camp.

“Mark Stone has been seeing consultants and meeting with doctors and our training staff. He has another meeting tomorrow in LA. It appears quite likely that he will have back surgery on Wednesday. He would be available for training camp,” said McCrimmon.

In the stretch run, Stone did not look like himself and struggled to reinsert himself into the Golden Knights lineup. Stone scored just two points in nine games in his return but finished the season with 30 points in 37 games played. Overall, Stone missed 45 games in 2021-22 and played the lowest number of games in a single season since his sophomore campaign with the Ottawa Senators in 2013-14.