By Jordan Long
The Dallas Stars have their new goaltender for next season. Ben Bishop, who was traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the Dallas Stars for a 4th round pick in this year’s draft, signed a six-year $29.5 million contract. This will pay him about $4.91 million per season.
Bishop started this past season for the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 31 starts he went 16-12-3 with a goals against average of 2.55 and a save percentage of .911. On February 26th, Tampa Bay dealt him to the L.A. Kings for goaltender Peter Budaj. At the time, the Kings were three points back of the St. Louis Blues for the second wild-card spot. They were hoping that paring Bishop with Jonathan Quick in net would increase their chances of making the postseason.
Bishop had a disappointing record 2-3-2 in a Kings uniform. His goals against average was 2.49 with a save percentage of .900. The Kings missed the playoffs by 8 points. The Kings saw enough and decided it was time to move on from Bishop. The Kings could have let him go without receiving anything back since he was going to be a free agent at the end of the year. They determined receiving a 4th round pick was enough for him.
The Stars traded for him even though they have two veteran goaltenders on the team in Kari Lehtonen and Antii Niemi. The difference between these two goaltenders and Bishop is age. Both Lehtonen and Niemi are 33 years old. Bishop on the other hand is 3 years younger.
Bishop is now the future of the franchise. According to ESPN, Bishop said, “I’ve been fortunate enough to play a few years in the league, and now it’s about going somewhere you think you have a chance to win and a good city. Dallas has both.”
The Stars will be improved with Bishop in net. He sees the puck well and rarely gives up rebound opportunities. Bishop will be the key next season for them to make the postseason. Hopefully, Bishop will deliver a Stanley Cup to the city.
The next order of business for the Stars is to decide who they will keep between Lehtonen and Niemi. Their contracts aren’t up until 2019. One of them will be the backup goaltender while the other must be traded. For the Stars, though, they have their starting goaltender for the next 6 years.
What do you think of the Dallas Stars agreeing to a contract with Ben Bishop?
Leave a Reply