The Ottawa Senators have traded star forward Mark Stone to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Heading back to Ottawa are defenceman prospect Erik Brannstrom, forward Oscar Lindberg and a second-round pick (originally belonging to the Dallas Stars) in 2020, while forward Tobias Lindberg will join Stone in Vegas.

Stone, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent following the 2018-19 season, signed a massive 9.5 Million/year eight-year deal following the trade. Stone was far and away the biggest trade chip on deadline day. The Senators had been active leading up to the trade deadline, sending Stone’s teammates Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel to the Columbus Blue Jackets in separate deals over the past week, meaning Ottawa has parted with its top three goal scorers of the 2018-19 campaign.

All six of the team’s top six scorers from 2017-18 — Stone, Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman, Duchene, Dzingel, and Derick Brassard, are now no longer with the club heading into the 2019 off-season

The 26-year-old Stone has 28 goals and 62 points through 59 games so far this season. He posted a similar mark of 62 points through 58 games last season for Ottawa, though his current total of 28 tallies ranks as a career high. Stone is regarded as one of the best two-way players in the game.

Brannstrom, 19, was a first-round pick (15th overall) by the Golden Knights in 2017. The five-foot-10 defenceman has seven goals and 28 points in 41 games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves this season. He was also the captain of Team Sweden at the World Juniors, where he scored four goals in five games.

There were at least eight teams in on the ‘Mark Stone Sweepstakes”
Erik Brannstrom, is the reason the Golden Knights came out the winners.

The kid is a top-10 prospect in the world.

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