Stone traded to Golden Knights by Senators for Lindberg, Brannstrom

Mark Stone was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights with forward Tobias Lindberg on Monday by the Ottawa Senators for forward Oscar Lindberg, defenseman prospect Erik Brannstrom and a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Stone avoided an arbitration hearing and signed a one-year, $7.35 million contract Aug. 3, 2018. He can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
The 26-year-old forward led the Senators in goals (28) and points (62) in 59 games this season and has scored at least 20 goals in each of the past five seasons.
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The Golden Knights (32-26-5) are in third place in the Pacific Division, six points ahead of the fourth-place Arizona Coyotes and 13 behind the second-place San Jose Sharks. They have lost three games in a row and six of seven.
"If we lost every game or won every game, it wouldn't have affected this," Vegas general manager George McPhee said. "I'm repeating myself, but you don't get players like [Stone] very often. Players this good aren't available through trade very often. Usually you draft a player like this and you can hang on to him, and he plays his whole career with you. So we knew that he was out there, that he was going to be available, and the issue was, what's it going to cost? And the price was right for us."
Stone took on a leadership role with the Senators following the trade of defenseman and captain Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks on Sept. 13.
"He is such a smart hockey player that you can rely on him," Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said. "You can rely on Mark. Whatever's going to happen, whoever you're playing, whatever type of day it is, you can rely on Mark. And I don't think there's a better quality that that for a coach."
Selected by the Senators in the sixth round (No. 178) of the 2010 NHL Draft, Stone has 311 points (123 goals, 188 assists) in 366 regular-season NHL games and 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 27 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"He was a huge impact for me this year, both on and off the ice," Ottawa rookie forward Brady Tkachuk said. "I was lucky enough to play with him all year. He welcomed me into his home when he didn't have to, and he kind of took me under his wing and it means so much to me. He didn't have to; it's just the type of guy he is."
Oscar Lindberg has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 35 games this season. The 27-year-old, who was selected by the Phoenix Coyotes in the second round (No. 27) of the 2010 NHL Draft, has 71 points (34 goals, 37 assists) in 232 regular-season NHL games with the New York Rangers and Golden Knights, and has five points (three goals, two assists) in 17 playoff games.
Brannstrom, who was selected by Vegas in the first round (No. 15) of the 2017 NHL Draft, has not played an NHL game. The 19-year-old has 28 points (seven goals, 21 assists) in 41 games with Chicago of the American Hockey League.
"He's a really good young player," McPhee said. "And we've drafted well enough to be able to do a deal like this. We drafted a good young player. We've drafted other good young players, and if we keep doing that, we'll be in good shape. We can make deals like this, or they can play for us. We're going to go to the draft again this summer and see if we can find some more gems."
Selected by Ottawa in the fourth round (No. 102) of the 2013 NHL Draft, Tobias Lindberg has two assists in six NHL games but hasn't played in the NHL since the 2015-16 season. He has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 44 AHL games with Belleville and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season.
The Senators (22-35-5) are in last place in the Eastern Conference.
NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika contributed to this report