When Stone arrived at Senators training camp in September 2014, nothing special was expected of the 22-year-old forward. As a third-year pro, he played 23 games for Ottawa and 91 with Binghamton of the American Hockey League after graduating from Brandon of the Western Hockey League.

Stone has established himself as one of the NHL's best two-way forwards, first with the Ottawa Senators and then with the Vegas Golden Knights, who acquired him in a trade on Feb. 25, 2019.

Stone has established himself as one of the NHL's best two-way forwards, first with the Ottawa Senators and then with the Vegas Golden Knights, who acquired him in a trade on Feb. 25, 2019.

When Stone arrived at Senators training camp in September 2014, nothing special was expected of the 22-year-old forward. As a third-year pro, he played 23 games for Ottawa and 91 with Binghamton of the American Hockey League after graduating from Brandon of the Western Hockey League.

Four goals and eight points certainly weren't much of an indication that Stone was a budding NHL star. But during the next eight months, Stone not only developed into a star, he became something of a phenomenon. Stone, a sixth-round pick (No. 178) in the 2010 NHL Draft, took his game to a whole new level. The offensive abilities that saw him score 78 goals and 129 points in his final two seasons in Brandon were suddenly transferred to the NHL.

From the All-Star break to the end of the 2014-15 season, Stone had 38 points (15 goals, 23 assists). His hot finish -- 15 points in March and 10 in April -- helped the Senators go 16-3-3 in their final 22 games to finish seventh, three points ahead of the ninth-place Boston Bruins. Though Stone broke his wrist against the Montreal Canadiens on April 15, he did not miss any of Ottawa's six Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Stone's 26 goals were the most of any rookie in the NHL, and he tied Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau for the most points by a rookie with 64. He finished second in Calder Trophy voting to Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad.

The 2015-16 season was more of the same. Stone finished with 23 goals and 61 points in 75 games, playing on Ottawa's top line with Kyle Turris and Mike Hoffman.

When the Senators failed to qualify for the postseason, Stone played in the IIHF World Hockey Championships in Russia and helped Canada win a gold medal.

Stone continued to be one of the best two-way players in the NHL, a defensively responsible forward who scored at least 20 goals every season. He was on pace for his best offensive season in 2018-19, with 62 points (28 goals, 34 assists) in 59 games for the last-place Senators, when he was traded to the Golden Knights. He quickly signed an eight-year contract with Vegas, finished with five goals and points in 18 games, then led Vegas in scoring during the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 12 games.

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