After deliberating in the weeks following the end of the NHL regular season, Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone has elected to undergo back surgery. <a href="https://twitter.com/DannyWebster21/status/1527036625980514304?s=20&amp;t=jsLwVMBz-7ssKoyrmogqYA">As reported by Danny Webster of </a><a href="https://twitter.com/DannyWebster21/status/1527036625980514304?s=20&amp;t=jsLwVMBz-7ssKoyrmogqYA">The Las Vegas Sun</a> Tuesday, the procedure will take place Wednesday.



Stone, 30, first started dealing with the nagging injury as <a href="https://theathletic.com/3294310/2022/05/05/mark-stone-back-injury-vegas/?source=emp_shared_article">far back as the 2020-21 season, </a>according to Jesse Granger of The Athletic. It led to multiple injury absences during the 2021-22 season that added up to 45 missed games during what was a cursed season for the Golden Knights, who had the sixth-most man games lost in the NHL and missed the playoffs for the first time in their five-season history.



Stone still amassed 30 points in the 37 games he could play and remained an elite defensive right winger, leading the NHL in 5-on-5 takeaways per 60 minutes, but he wasn’t fully himself. His 18:21 of average ice time was his lowest mark since 2014-15, his first full NHL season.<div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="164"></div>



The hope is that Stone, the first and only captain in Golden Knights history, will be fully healthy and ready to play by 2022-23 training camp. He has four seasons remaining on an eight-year contract carrying a $9.5-million AAV.