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“He’s a superstar in the NHL, but likely outside of Ottawa and Las Vegas a lot of people don’t realize that,” Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon said. “You had the chance to see him perform at a very high level as a Senator and we’ve seen the same thing.

“He’s tremendously improved our team, he was great when he came over in the trade and then like any player who has an off-season to get acclimated for his first full season, he’s been excellent again this year. He’s been a really good fit with Max Pacioretty, and those two have really found chemistry, which is kind of ironic given their Ottawa-Montreal histories.”

McCrimmon knew Stone from junior. The Knights were interested in Stone long before he became available, and when the opportunity presented itself they didn’t flinch.

“We had a lot of regard for Mark Stone for a long, long time,” McCrimmon said. “It wasn’t until closer to the trade deadline that he might be moved. As those discussions go, you’re never quite sure. It was right up until the deadline when that deal was consummated, but there has been widespread support for Mark throughout our organization for quite some time.”

Stone had dinner with winger Brady Tkachuk, who’s renting his Ottawa home, along with the Senator’s parents, Chantal and Keith, on Wednesday night.

“It was good. It was familiar. It was awesome to see a couple of close friends and Brady’s parents,” Stone said.

THE LAST WORDS

There’s no timetable for the return of goaltender Anders Nilsson, who is sidelined with a concussion he was diagnosed with before Christmas. While has been on the ice, that hasn’t been the case lately and he likely won’t skate until after the club wraps up its eight-day break with a practice Jan. 27 at home. The Senators are going to take the same approach with Nilsson’s recovery that they took with winger Scott Sabourin when he suffered a concussion on Nov. 2 against the Boston Bruins. The club isn’t going to rush Nilsson back at all. He won’t play again until he’s given clearance by the doctors and he’s 100 per cent. … With five picks in the first two rounds of the NHL draft in June, Dorion wasn’t on hand Thursday night. Instead, he travelled to Hamilton to take in the CHL’s top prospects game. Next week, he’s headed to Europe to see a lot of the top-rated draft-eligible players. Once Dorion returns from overseas, his focus will be back on getting ready for the Feb. 24 trade deadline at 3 p.m. EST.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter: @sungarrioch

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