Brad Treliving finished two big offseason tasks in signing Sam Bennett and David Rittich. Now he has one large one left in re-signing Matthew Tkachuk, and it’s going to be his toughest job yet.
Stone buyout?
— simeon Van Loon (@simeon_van_loon) July 27, 2019
Yes, that’s almost certainly happening. Michael Stone figured to be a sixth defenceman at best next season, and at $3.5M, that’s too much for a sixth defenceman. Saving $2.3M and making more room for Tkachuk is much more important and valuable for 2019-20 than what Stone could do next year with third pairing minutes.