"I feel really good and really confident," Stone said. "I'm excited to get back."
Stone expressed his frustration with his own situation as the forward missed the team's final 39 games of the regular season. With the benefit of hindsight, Stone is just relieved to be back healthy playing the game he loves.
"It's hard to explain, I'm pretty emotional," Stone said. "It brought some tears to my eyes but I'm excited to be back."
The captain's teammates had plenty to say about his return as well.
"All the work that he's put in, it's not easy to do what he did, to get surgery midseason," said Jack Eichel, who overcome midseason neck surgery in 2021-22. "There's a lot of time spent by yourself. It's an incredible addition to our team both on and off the ice. We're so happy to have him back."
Eichel himself is also full of excitement as he will be participating in his first playoff run since his NHL career began with the Buffalo Sabres in 2015-16.
"These are the moments you dream of as a kid, playing in the playoffs." Eichel said. "It's going to be a great night and it's a first for me. So I'm excited."
Head Coach Bruce Cassidy is among those that can breathe a sigh of relief seeing Stone back on the ice. He announced that the captain will slot in with Chandler Stephenson and Michael Amadio for Game 1. Cassidy also announced he expects Zach Whitecloud to return to the lineup, pending approval from the medical team.
"We're fortunate to have him," Cassidy said of Stone. "We didn't know how it would play out to be perfectly honest. There were obviously a lot of medical boxes he had to check off before he could get back in the lineup. He's been able to do that; credit to him, credit to our medical team for getting him up to speed. We just have to be careful, we don't expect too much. It's his first game in a long time. No matter what, he'll be a positive influence for us."
Cassidy has since announced goaltender Laurent Brossoit will be the starter for Game 1. Brossoit spoke on what it's like to play on a team with so many goaltenders in the mix.
"When you're competing against that many good goalies, it either breaks you or it motivates you," Brossoit said.
Brossoit will be facing off against his former team, having played for the Jets from 2018 to 2021.
The Golden Knights will participate in an optional morning skate before the series begins on Tuesday morning at City National Arena at 10:30 a.m. All team practices are free and open to the public and timing will be confirmed each morning on the official Vegas Golden Knights Twitter account.
