Stars Acquire Bishop's Rights

			2017 Season			2017	July 1st Status
To Dallas	Pos	Age	GP	Wins	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Ben Bishop	G	30	38	18	38	$5.95m	0	UFA
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To Los Angeles	Pos	Age	GP	Wins	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
2017 4th Round Draft Pick

The off-season was going to be very goalie-centric with the emergence of the Golden Knights and the expansion draft, not to mention pending free agents and things got a little more interesting with the Dallas Stars acquiring the negotiating rights to potential unrestricted free agent, Ben Bishop.

Bishop was acquired by the Kings at the deadline to shore up their goaltending, as they tried to make a run for a playoff spot in the West, but that push came up a bit short and the Kings now need to recover something for their loss, so coming back is Montreal's 4th round pick, which the Stars acquired earlier in the year.

The move to pick up Bishop should expedite a contract extension before he hits the open market on July 1st and thus should make both Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi exposed at the expansion draft, barring more wheeling and dealing by the Stars, leading up to the event.  We're keeping our eyes and ears ready for a new deal done here.

Bishop ranked 35th among all goalies in pool scoring this past regular season, splitting time with Tampa Bay and Los Angeles, but getting the bulk of his work with the Lightning.  The move and potential for being the new number one in Dallas will certainly increase his projections for next season and he could be back in the top 30 right away.  Lehtonen, as an example, was 24th among all goalies behind this Dallas Stars team.

The Stars were already fortunate to see their entry draft pick improve to 3rd overall and they've added a new goalie to try and shore up their crease, but they have yet to do much about their blueline just yet.  Maybe there is a chance they can deal one of their other goalies for one, but I am thinking that Bishop isn't quite enough to get wins on the board and a playoff spot under their belt, but at least they're making waves and that's a good start to the summer.