Why Mitch Marner isn't playing tonight for Golden Knights with news on Mark Stone, Shea Theodore

The Vegas Golden Knights sent a whole heap of talent to the Winter Olympics.

Team USA's gold medalist team featured Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifan. The Canadian silver medalists had Mitch Marner, Mark Stone and Shea Theodore.

The gold medal game in Milan, Italy, was just contested on Sunday, and the Golden Knights are back from the NHL's Olympic break on Wednesday night in Los Angeles against the Kings.

That led to earlier announcement that the two Americans won't be playing Wednesday.

And then a new report indicates that neither will the Canadians.

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Why isn't Mitch Marner playing tonight?

Mitch Marner isn't playing on Wednesday night for rest, the same reason that Mark Stone and Shea Theodore are out for the Golden Knights against the Kings.

This is the report on X from reporter Danny Webster, who quoted head coach Bruce Cassidy:

“We left them behind to give them a break, and we're hoping they'll be ready to join us (in Washington). We'll have a better idea after the game, and tomorrow, we'll discuss with them.”

It's a fascinating start to the stretch run for Vegas, which had its players return to home base before the team flew to L.A. and then will fly to Washington, D.C. for a game there against the Capitals on Friday.

Vegas needs its stars back on the ice, and a couple extra days to recover will likely be enough to have a much closer to normal lineup on Friday in the nation's capital.

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