Can the Vegas Golden Knights SURVIVE Without Mark Stone | Is The Adin Hill Injury MORE Concerning?

Can the Vegas Golden Knights SURVIVE Without Mark Stone | Is The Adin Hill Injury MORE Concerning?

On today’s episode of Lockdown NHL, who would you rather have in a fight, a rat or the volleyball from Castaway? You’re Locked on NHL, your daily podcast on the National Hockey League, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What is happening everybody? Welcome in to another episode of Lockdown NHL, your daily podcast on the National Hockey League. We are your team each and every day and we are your first listen each and every day as well. Make sure you subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and you could win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. On today’s episode of Lockown NHL, we talk about some massive injury news for the Vegas Golden Knights is Mark Stone. He’s going to be out week to week. We’ll also talk about a couple of uh recent big hit type plays from Brad Marans the rat or Tom Wilson who I affectionately called the volleyball from Castaway. Who would you rather have in a fight? And we’ll also take a look at the inaugural list for the 2026 NHL draft from Central Scouting and some names to keep an eye on. will test my knowledge as to prospects. My name is Seth Toppel, host of Locked on Wild, joined by JD Young of Locked on Sharks for the Tuesday edition of Locked on NHL. And JD, we drop right in with some big injury news. Does not sound great for the Vegas Golden Knights. as according to reports, Mark Stone will be out of the lineup on a weekto- week basis. Um, this is not anything new for the Vegas Golden Knights. Mark Stone has certainly missed chunks of seasons. And so now, now the question becomes, what do they do to replace him in the lineup? Tson, come on. Conor McDavid. come on down. Who do they get to replace him? Uh they already got their replacements uh this off season. Uh this team though is is built to just kind of go through this and uh the way that they’ve been playing so far this year. Like I actually I’m actually not worried about this at all. Uh like you said, right, we we have an an annual Mark Stone gets injured. Uh it just usually comes a little bit later in the season. A little early this year. A little little little that injury bug hit a little early this year for Mark Stone. Uh but yeah, I’m not worried about uh the Golden Knights and their ability to continue to be one of the best teams in the NHL uh because at least when it comes to their skaters. We’ll talk about the uh goalies here in just a second. But um the way that Eel has started the season right with 15 points in six games uh before tonight’s game uh before Monday night’s game. Uh Mitch Mner who of course they traded for this off seasonason. Like that that’s your Mark Stone insurance right there is Mitch Martner. You you have Dorf who can you know put the puck in the back of the net. You have Hurdle who kind of feels like he’s like almost in like a reduced role and if he needs to pick up the slack, he could do it. Like this team just is is it’s disgusting how many options they have uh with Mark Stone out of the out of the lineup here. But yeah, I’m not worried like you know if he’s back you know around Thanksgiving and back to being kind of himself or like they’ll they’ll figure out a way. They’re this team is too good. They have too many players. But I think the the more worrying news is the Aiden Hill news uh who left Monday night’s game with a lower body injury. Apparently couldn’t put any weight on his knee. And this team is a little thin uh in the goalie department. And I know they have Carter Hart who but he can’t play until what is it December 1st I believe. Um, you know, you have Akira Schmid who’s, you know, looked good so far this year, but, uh, I mean, stop me if you heard this before. A Vegas team has had issues with goalies staying healthy. Yeah, it’s a it’s a common it’s a common refrain for the Golden Knights. I would be worried more so like you said JD I’d be worried if this team was struggling to score goals but 26 goals in their first six games like they they are having no problems putting uh putting the puck in the net and even above what Eel has done. I mean Stone like it’s it’s certainly a loss. He had 13 points in six games which was absurd. Yes. But here are the players that have multiple goals so far for the Golden Knights through the first six games. Ekel Stone, Marner, Doraf, Hurdle, Barbers, Carlson. They all have multiple goals. So, this is one of those classic situations of like we’re not gonna have one guy fill this spot. We’re just gonna we’re just gonna have a bunch of guys just step up 5%. Yep. Or 10%. Everybody chips in. Everybody chips in. You can make up for the Mark Stone. Uh yeah. Injury here. And again, like you you went out and you got Mitch Mner and there was a worry like, okay, what’s Mner going to do now if he’s not going to have, you know, kind of the same opportunities that he was afforded to him with Toronto, right? Martner’s getting all not to say that, you know, uh Mner’s not getting top power play, stuff like that. But like there’s there’s plenty of mouths to feed here in Vegas. But now I wonder if the offense maybe kind of flows through MNER a little bit more now with Stone out and uh maybe we see MNER uh kind of have a big stretch here while Mark Stone is out and help him to continue to get acclimated to Vegas here. So that would be my guess. I think uh I think Mner is going to to kind of be the main guy. But like you said, I mean, they have so many guys here who can. It’s like, okay, you know, Hurdle, we need you to, you know, kind of chip in a little bit more here. Uh, Doria, can you, you know, keep scoring a bajillion goals? Like, yeah, this team will be fine. Uh, when it comes offensively, but yeah, I the the goalending does really really worry me because, you know, even behind Schmid, right? Um, you have a Cameron Whitehead, a Yesper Vickman, and a Carl Lindbomb as your goalies. Uh, yeah. So, like I know Whitehead, I I know who that like I I believe he’s a North uh Western product if I recall correctly, but like um the these guys are all extremely young. This is a a I I wonder if they’re in the market to maybe try to find a replacement for Hill if they think Hill is going to be out for some period of time here to try to kind of at least give Shmee uh a little bit of a a backup here, especially again because Carter Hart can’t play until December. So, and but we don’t know. I mean, we could find out come, you know, Tuesday afternoon that Aiden Hill’s okay and, you know, he might be out for a few games here, but when you can’t put weight on a leg on your knee, especially as a goalie, that feels kind of bad to me, right? Yeah, that’s that’s not great for a goalie. Um, how about this? There is uh there is a name that uh I’m sure is familiar to many um Vegas fans that could be I mean they just like they just had him last year. Okay. Unless I for some reason can’t read what Spa Track has available. Is Ilia Samson not just sitting there? Sam, I thought you were going to go back way back and say call flower and be like, “Hey, I know you’re retired, but [Music] that’s where I thought you go.” But yeah, Ilia Samsonov’s a pretty Yeah, I know. He hasn’t signed anywhere. I I’m surprised. Like I I I thought he was going to be signed like I made a case for unlock Sharks as the Sharks should try to sign him as their third goalie uh to go play in the AHL and then if you need a guy because somebody gets hurt. Uh but yeah, that would be a good one too. I could see Samson off uh right, you could probably you don’t have to get him new pads, he can just wear the ones he wore last year. uh like yeah I I think that would be a well it could be a nice bridge option and especially if they’re they’re worried about how long Aiden Hill could be out but again we’re speculating right now because there’s just no and of course we know they’re we’re not going to get the true answer to what’s wrong with him but um yeah I I would be it’ll be I mean the problem too is they don’t have a lot of cap space either uh because they’re you know dealing with uh LTI stuff and everything like that. So, uh it’ll be Yeah, I’m I’m curious to see how they kind of navigate. I guess they could use their LTI and they should be okay. And if they put a Hill on LTIR or I like they could probably be able to kind of get by for a little bit here. But yeah, um I I wouldn’t be surprised if if they’re in the market for a goalie here really soon. Um, according in in my best Yoda impression, there is another uh Martin Jones isn’t doing anything. He’s like a thousand years old. Yeah, it fits perfect. That’s perfect. Poor Martin Jones to the ground by Pete Dore. Yeah, he just he Martin Jones watching Jake just be like, “That was me once. That was me. Uh yeah, I I thought it makes a lot of sense. Poor Martin Jones. Go Martin Jones takes in the year of our Lord 2025. Hey, my anytime Martin Jones was playing in net against the Minnesota Wild, I immediately anytime he faced a shot on goal, I would always say, “Don’t let Martin Jones get hot.” Then he’d give up like three goals on four shots. Like uh again, Petore ran him into the ground. Petore ran him into the ground. Actually, there’s a really like uh interesting on Martin Jones thing that game one against Vegas where he gave up seven goal. Like that was actually like a tipping point in his career and you can see his like basically from that moment on all of his stats just plummeted from that game one against Vegas where he gave up seven. He was never the same guy after that. Like that game broke Martin Jones right there. Anyway, uh but yeah, Mark Stone also broke it. Pizzaorn goalies, man. Yeah, it’s great. It’s too bad. Well, we uh will skip from so ba basic basic premise is we feel like Vegas is going to be fine. Yeah, the go the goalies were worrisome I think than the stone injury. I would be fine. Uh let’s get into a fight of sorts as to who you would take in a fight. The long tenur bad boy of the NHL, Tom Wilson, or the rat, Brad Marshand. We’ll talk about that as we continue today’s episode of Locked On NHL after this. Today’s episode of Lock 10 NHL is brought to you by FanDuel. 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Um, long tenur as the enforcer of the NHL, Mr. Tom Wilson. Uh, I thought he was fantastic in Castaway, but uh, that’s another story for another day. Uh, but a new challenger approaches as Brad Marans. Uh, he he had himself quite the night the other night. Uh, just just got fed up. He had enough and did not appreciate the cross check in the back from Dene. No. uh takes him down, starts whailing on him, gets his helmet. I like how he just like I don’t think he realizes he’s holding Den’s helmet until he gets to the penalty box and looks down and realizes it’s not his. Rips the straps off and then throws it back on the ice. And the look on Darlene’s face of like, what is this guy doing here? Um yeah. Uh like $5,000 fine the most. Uh that could be Yeah. Like we we you and I talked about this before like the departments of players uh safety has like literally like the easiest job because they’re just like what’s the most I could find you? We’re doing that. Uh actually suspend somebody for throw literally throwing a tantrum. Like I I’ve seen my kids do the exact same thing when he didn’t get his way. Like get into the car, throw something in there, like I’m gonna maybe I should find him 5K for the next time he Yeah. has a bad soccer game and throws his gear in the car or something like that because it it was the equivalent of that of like my seven-year-old throwing a tantrum in the car because uh the game didn’t go his way. Like absolutely ridiculous. Yeah, it I’m trying to think of the equivalent and basically the only thing I can think of is like I mean there are obviously other examples, but think about a golfer at a PGA event hitting a bad shot and picking up somebody’s club by mistake and then breaking that club and then chucking it into the uh the water hazard. golfer whose club it actually was is just like what the what the fudge except for he didn’t say fudge what did I do uh yeah do we think there will be any additional discipline for this or simply the uh simply the 5% credit card transaction sweep that bad boy under the rug move on so uh yeah just absolutely wild and then the Wilson hit right And like I know it’s borderline late. Like I thought it was late. But I’m always very cautious with these things, right? Especially with guys like Philip Pedle who has had noted concussion history uh who’s missed a ton of gains because of this uh throughout his career. And then you take into the fact that Tom Wilson uh noted Goon who’s had six suspensions in his career for uh Tom Fullery as well. Um yeah, and nothing. No, like no supplemental action. Good clean hit. Let’s go. Um I like again the Department of Player Safety. Just sweep it under the rug. Let’s move on everybody. The Department of Possibly something is possibly something spin the wheel of punishment. Yeah. It’s like it’s it’s one of those things where you see like uh you know where like the guy’s got like the doors stop and he like it’s and it’s just like no punishment. It’s like dead center. That’s basically the department of player safety. Yeah, it’s the eye it’s the chart at the eye doctor except the bottom row which is the maximum amount possible fine is the biggest and the numbers get smaller the higher up you go. Like I I can’t read any higher than this. So it’s like 2.5 font which is Yeah. It’s just like impossible to read. Yeah. So, um yeah, I mean, are you taking the volleyball or or the rat? I don’t know. Like the actual physical volleyball or the rats? I think not not the players. Like the volleyball or the rats? The act of removing the straps from someone’s helmet is kind of lunaticy. Yes. But I think, you know, Tom Wilson’s got he’s got a few pounds on Marand. I think Marian can certainly hold his own. Yes. But you add in the angle of the open ice hit and I think I would still lean Tom Wilson. H does the volleyball does the Ratchets chew open the volleyball and get inside? That’s my Yeah. And then and then he just kind of does the alien chest burster through the actual volleyball. I’m not worried. I don’t care about the actual players. I just want to know the an actual volleyball versus a rat. Yeah, this is this is equal parts perplexing and fascinating. Yeah, I think Tom Wilson I mean Tom like Marian like Yeah, Marian’s like the lower weight class. Uh but yeah, Tom Wilson’s an absolute maniac and he’s also extremely big too. So yeah, extremely lunatic behavior. Extremely lun I would uh 100% watch though. Yeah, why not? Why wouldn’t you? Yeah. Uh we’re going to take a look. Central Scouting has released their initial list of players to keep an eye on. We’ll talk you through some of the big names that is on the way as we finish today’s episode of Locked on NHL after this. Let’s be honest, most of us can’t even name all of our financial accounts, let alone what we’re worth between 401ks, savings, and investments is easy to lose track. That can mean leave money on leaving money on the table. That’s why I started using Monarch, an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or on your phone. It’s great for organizing your accounts. You can track your spending, see where your spend, your money is going, better handle on your investments without ever having to touch a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are for nerds. Uh, also, you can review how you’re uh spending with your partner, see shared goals, make better financial decisions together. Monarch’s visual dashboards and smart tools make it so much easier to understand where your money is going and make it work harder for me. It’s like your own personal puckedia. Don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code locked on NHL at monarch.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarch.com code lockedon NHL for half off your first year. final segment of today’s edition of Locktown NHL. And once again, we thank you for making Locktown NHL your first listen each and every day. We are your team each and every day as well. We are your central scouting player to watch experts. So, let’s dive into One of us, I think more than one of us season’s already over. We’re One of us is still in the throws of a uh playoff hunt and mediocrity at the same time. One of us is still looking for that first win of the season. So, you know, we’re Yeah. Well, yeah. Um let’s just go through some of these names, JD. And you know, you have been as plugged in as anybody as far as the prospects go. So, who are some of the names that jump off the list? Obviously, the big prize or one of the big prizes this year is Gavin McKenna. Um, but who are some of the other big ones for this upcoming draft? Uh, let’s start with McKenna first, of course, right? Who’s, uh, kind of the bell of the ball this year. Uh, and I think brings a lot of juice to this year’s draft. And this draft like early on into and right, that’s the thing like drafts change and how we feel about players and especially because we’re just starting the season. But this draft is kind of reminding me of the Baddard draft, that 2023 draft where you have the big name and Gavin McKenna and that that’s that’s the prize of this year’s draft, right? But, uh, the players who go right after McKenna, there’s some really nice players there, right? You go back to that 2023 draft, you had Leo Carlson, you had Ventil, you had Will Smith, like that was a turning, you know, those players are already making their marks in the NHL. uh like in in the you know as young budding superstars for these guys. Um this year’s draft if you need a a right-handed defenseman in the top 10 uh especially if you’re a team in San Jose uh this is the draft for you. So if you don’t get Gavin McKenna like there is still a lot of excellent excellent players. Uh kind of the big name after McKenna uh is one Katon Verhoff. So, Verhov spent last year playing in the WHL uh with the uh Royals. This year, uh go went over it with the new rules where you can play, right? You can bounce between the CHL and the NCAA. Jumped over to play with North Dakota, which is a very fine program. Has been a powerhouse for a long time. Uh and he has put up a a very good start to his season uh so far. I think he’s got like three or four points in five games with North Dakota. He’s 6 foot3. uh right-handed shot, smooth skating defenseman, like looks has the looks to be uh an absolute number one type of player, you know, a little bit bigger than than Matthew Schaefer, a little bit more physical than Matthew Schaefer, but still a lot of the same kind of tools as as Schaefer uh that you’re seeing from the aisles right now. and he could be a guy who steps into the NHL like right away, especially if he has a great season here uh in the NCAA and he’s already as one of the youngest players. So, uh you have a guy uh another WHO guy in Brian Lynn who’s a little bit smaller at 5 foot8 offensive dynamo for uh for the Vancouver Giants um as well. Uh like those are, you know, kind of some of the like those guys could be like potential top five picks there. Um, you have a bunch of other players here like uh like uh Daxon Rudolph who’s a another defenseman right-handed shot from Prince Albert 6’2. Uh I just talked to his teammate uh Max Heisy who was just on lockdown Sharks. I’m gonna plug that here right now as well. He he raved about uh Rud and like just how great of a player he is. Um, like th this draft is like if you get a top 10 pick in this year’s draft, you’re probably gonna have a really good time with with the player that you’re going to be picking here. Uh, I also like uh Tina Lawrence who’s playing with the Moskegan Lumberjacks in the USHL. Uh, 6 foot one, he’s about six foot six foot and a half, six foot one uh center. Um, he’s got all the skill in the world as well. like that this there’s a lot of fun players in this year’s draft and again if you’re if I think if you get a top 10 pick you’re probably have a pretty good time with it. Now in addition to say the top 10 I know last year’s draft was considered pretty topheavy. Yes. Um, are we more towards that or are we more towards the draft of a couple years ago that was just, you know, crazy deep that, uh, you know, if you get a first round pick or even like a second round pick, you feel like you’re in a pretty good spot to land a major impact player. Uh, it I I think this year’s draft is going to be a deeper class, too. It still depends because I mean we’re so still so early into the season and yeah the things change so quickly and guys will come and guys will fall apart and stuff but I think once we kind of get to world juniors we’ll probably have a little bit better as my dog is uh not choking on the couch right here. Uh we’ll have a little bit better uh kind of sense of of the depth of this draft. But I still think like having a first round pick, uh, I think it’s going to be, you know, if you’re having a first- round pick this year or multiple first round picks, I think it’s you’re going to feel a lot better about it than you did, especially this 2025 draft. And you heard a lot of GMs even last year’s trade deadline, right? They didn’t want to give up their 2026 first round picks, uh, unless they really really had to. they felt like it was, you know, going to be a late first round pick because they knew I think this year’s draft class, you’re going to be able to get some uh some key players, you know, even a little bit further down the lineup right now. And uh I think as you know, trying to count really quickly, it looks like I mean, as of right now, you know, as of right now, this can change, but they have about 20 or so players with an A grade rating, you know, uh from Central Scouting, and this will change throughout. Uh these are all kind of first round candidates. and then the their B level um which is like second or third level like it’s you know there’s there’s probably like 30 or 40 type of players there. So it does feel like you can still get good players late first round second even third round uh in this year’s draft. So uh and if you are in the market for a goalie couple of options in the B tier and the B tier is second slash third round somewhere in that general range. Uh Harrison Bediger is one option and the other route that you could go as far as the goalies are concerned is Zachary Jovenski. Two options right there depending on if you want size or if you want um other things. Our goalie breakdowns of third round goalies is going to be riveting here soon. So yes, 100%. Uh go check out locked on NHL prospects. They they this is what this is what uh they do over there. So much better at this than we are. Yeah, we you know we just we stick to our lane. We stay in our lane. We stick to Cam Fowler praise and uh and if rats and uh yeah rats and volleyballs who would win in a fight. Wilson. Well, or as I prefer the the rum ham spin on that, but that’s uh another story for another day. Uh that’ll do it for today’s episode of Locked on NHL. We appreciate you joining us here for today’s show. Make sure to like and subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platforms so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. We got new episodes for you every Monday through Friday as part of the Locked On podcast network.

Mark Stone’s injury shakes up the Vegas Golden Knights’ lineup, but can Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner step up to fill the void? The NHL’s player safety department faces scrutiny as Brad Marchand’s helmet-tossing incident and Tom Wilson’s controversial hit spark debate. Seth Toupal and JD Young analyze the Golden Knights’ goaltending crisis with Aden Hill sidelined, exploring potential replacements like Ilya Samsonov.

The hosts dissect the inconsistencies in NHL disciplinary actions, questioning the league’s approach to player safety. They also provide an in-depth look at the 2026 NHL Draft class, highlighting potential first overall pick Gavin McKenna and comparing the draft’s depth to the Connor Bedard-led 2023 class.

Get expert analysis on these hot NHL topics and glimpse into the future stars who could dominate the league. Tune in to hear why this draft class might be a game-changer for teams looking to rebuild or reload their rosters.

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
2:34 Vegas Golden Knights’ depth can handle injuries
5:43 Goaltending concerns for Vegas after Hill injury
10:09 Potential goalie options for Vegas
14:47 Brad Marchand’s antics and Tom Wilson’s hit
19:38 Comparing Marchand and Wilson in a fight
22:25 Top prospects for 2026 NHL Draft
26:49 Depth of 2026 draft class

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