The Vegas Golden Knights are on a mission to defend their championship this season. However, they have to carry on without one of their most important players. <h2>Stone Ruled Out For Regular Season According To Darren Dreger</h2> NHL insider Darren Dreger reported this afternoon that Mark Stone will be out for the rest of the regular season. The Golden Knights captain last played on the 20th when he sustained an undisclosed upper-body injury. Initial reports suggested that he would be out for a few weeks but it now seems that that has extended through the regular season. <q>⚠️ Darren Dreger on Insider Trading says #VegasBorn's Mark Stone is out for the rest of the regular season and is questionable for Stanley Cup Playoffs. «You can be certain Kelly McCrimmon will utilize his cap space.»</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/PuckReportNHL/status/1763349199305806040?s=20&fbclid=IwAR1n4F52HFg3EElyAE-Xd4zBrIv51oSv4BijV_TmlTZ_O0b-1Q8gV8Ou8bk'> </a></blockquote></div> <h2>Golden Knights To Fill Void On Wing At Trade Deadline?</h2> Stone is not just the team's captain, but he is one of their most important contributors in all aspects of the game. He has 16 goals and 53 points in 56 games this season, despite dealing with nagging injuries. His advanced stats paint an even better picture, as he is still one of the best all-around players in the league according to some public analytics models. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/JFreshHockey/status/1763357065727082889'> </a></blockquote></div> Stone is yet to go on LTIR, but if he should, it would open up another 9.5 million dollars in cap relief for the team. The team can be expected to use that space to bring in more elite players as the team attempts to win back-to-back championships. While Vegas has been relatively quite in trade rumors so far, this could significantly alter their trade deadline plans.