When fans were clamouring for news of a Mark Stone extension before arbitration, this isn't exactly what they had in mind.
Sure, Stone and the team were able to avoid arbitration which is good, but they were only able to agree on a one-year deal worth $7.35M:
News Release: The #Sens have signed forward Mark Stone to a one-year contract: https://t.co/G3ljt86sS5 pic.twitter.com/QQqMtbnb7b
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) August 3, 2018
As I've been saying all along, a one-year deal for Stone is an absolute nightmare scenario, and it doesn't really matter that they got this done without an arbitrator. The fact remains that all three of the Senators best players in Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, and Matt Duchene are UFAs in 2019, and there's a very real possibility that all of them will be gone next summer.
Pierre Dorion and Stone look pleased in this picture, but I can't help thinking that it's a bit staged:
Pen to paper and is official:
— Sens communications (@Media_Sens) August 3, 2018
The one-year contract for #Sens Mark Stone carries a value of $7.35 million
Le contrat d’un an pour Mark Stone est d’une valeur de 7,35 millions $ pic.twitter.com/JdnQclEbvm
The only reason I can think why Stone would want a one-year deal is if he wants out of Ottawa, because otherwise he knows he can get much more security. I'm sure Dorion was begging Stone to accept seven or eight years too, because he knows just how important of a player he is to the team. I thought Stone would be someone that the Senators could build around if Karlsson ever gets traded, but now I'm thinking that's much less likely.
It's just another awful day for this franchise, because even though this deal was signed by both parties, I can already see what's coming next. There's a slim possibility that there's new ownership in a year and these three UFAs are willing to stay, but it's hard to be optimistic about that. Ottawa simply has much less leverage now and has to do a masterful job to convince Stone to stay, or trade him for less than full value.
The fact is that Stone has developed into one of the most complete forwards this team has ever seen, and he could easily be gone before he even gets an opportunity to truly cement his legacy with the franchise. This outcome was expected, but it doesn't make it any less disappointing. He's not a complete goner just yet, but things will have to drastically change if Stone wants to re-sign again.
If he was an RFA in 2019 then Ottawa would at least be able to recoup most of his value in a trade, but because he will be unrestricted, the Senators will be getting about 50 or 75 cents on the dollar if they decide to trade him at the deadline, so it's not like that is something to look forward to either. The tiniest of silver linings is that the sides didn't go to arbitration, but the end result was essentially the same.
Another worst case scenario involving one of Ottawa's best players, what else is new?