I have been a Stone supporter since day 1 of his rookie training camp back in 2003. I thought he showed a lot of potential. Unfortunately, he hasn't shown anything since then. He was called up last year and was very underwhelming. This year in training camp he had a chance again, but was beat out essentially by Paul Bissonette and Bill Thomas. Stone didn't do enough to show that he can hold a bottom 6 position in the NHL.
Stone has already expressed that he hopes he gets claimed off waivers. Bissonette was in a similar situation last year. He went as far as saying he didn't see how he fit into the Pens future plans and told management he wanted a trade.
We'll see if Stone does what Biz did last year....he did whatever it took to make his game more appealing for the Pens. He changed his position from D to Winger and became a fighter/grinder and now he is one of the last players left to make the cut...or he can take the Jonathan Filewich approach and just roll over and die.
Personally, I think Stone's ship has sailed, but if he commits to a more defensive game and tries to improve his fighting skills then he might have a change. The Pens aren't deep at wing so he does stand a chance, but he has to put the effort in.
