Senators sign F Mark Stone to three-year entry-level deal
I'm sure the deal was in the works before he scored an overtime winner against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the most recent rookie camp, but that couldn't have hurt.
Ottawa Senators prospect Mark Stone, drafted in the sixth round (178 overall) in 2010, signed a three-year entry-level deal with the team today. Mostly unheralded on draft day, Stone made a name for himself with a 106-point season last year in Brandon of the WHL, earning a spot on the league All-Star Team for his efforts. He also turned plenty of heads at the recent Team Canada World Junior Tournament summer camp, and will have a good shot of playing for the team this winter.
With a lot of competition in this year's training camp, Stone has a long road ahead of him in making the Ottawa squad, and isn't AHL-eligible if he doesn't (instead he'd head back to Brandon to finish out his junior career). Still, in an interview on Luber's Lounge (a Brandon Wheat Kings blog), he said all the right things:
"It's a little bit of a tough goal to set for yourself, to make a team like this," said Stone, "I feel that I've played pretty well but still haven't played my best. They're giving me a chance to play in a pre-season game tonight so I want to make a good impression and stick here as long as I can."
The ink on this new contract will barely have dried when we get the chance to see what Stone can do, as he's playing with Mika Zibanejad and Milan Michalek in tonight's pre-season tilt against the Maple Leafs once again.
