Mark Stone Has High Praise For Jack Eichel

Mark Stone was praising Jack Eichel after another impressive showing for the Vegas Golden Knights' superstar, saying, "I'm going to back this guy no matter what. He's one of my more impressive teammates I've ever played with. He's probably one of, if not, the best player I've ever played with." Coming from an 11-year veteran of the NHL who's played for multiple franchises, this is some high praise. Let's take a look at exactly who Stone has played with in his career and at what stage to compare to Eichel.

In Stone's first season (2012-13), he played on the same team as Erik Karlsson in the prime of his career. It was one season after he won the Norris Trophy and was recording 70-plus points every season when scoring was at a low in the NHL. Stone also got the pleasure of playing on the same team as Jason Spezza. This was also the time he was in his prime, the season after Spezza finished sixth in Hart Trophy voting with 34 goals and 84 points in 80 games.

Over the first few seasons of his career, Stone got to develop in the NHL alongside young players like Karlsson, Mika Zibanejad, Bobby Ryan, Kyle Turris, Matt Duchene, and Mike Hoffman. Zibanejad is the notable young talent that would soon break out to the great player he is today for the New York Rangers. Stone may not have see him in his prime yet, but he did get to seen him quickly become a superstar.

Once a part of the Golden Knights, the best talent Stone played with was Max Pacioretty who is an elite goal-scorer when healthy. The team does have Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo, but they don't compare to Eichel. Stone was the best player for the Golden Knights until Eichel returned to form this season, scoring nine goals and 19 points in the first 15 games. The Golden Knights look nearly unstoppable kicking off the 2022-23 season in part to Eichel's return to form.

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