NHL Trade Rumors: Flames close to acquiring Ben Bishop?

According to a report, the Flames could be close to acquiring Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop.

Thanks to a looming expansion draft that could happen as soon as the 2016 offseason and not having much cap room, the Lightning have been exploring trading 2015-16 Vezina Trophy finalist goalie Ben Bishop. Thanks to the Dallas Stars paying Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi way too much money and the Toronto Maple Leafs acquiring Frederik Andersen, the most obvious remaining suitor for Bishop are the Calgary Flames, who only have one goalie signed at the moment. The Flames, according to a recent report, could be close to acquiring Bishop.

Bishop is tradable despite being one of the best goalies in the league. The biggest reason why? Tampa Bay currently has very little cap space to work with and they would love to get Steven Stamkos re-signed. After next season, they likely can’t re-sign Bishop since star defenseman Victor Hedman is scheduled to become a free agent.

The second reason why the Lightning can afford to trade Bishop is because of Andrei Vasilevskiy. Drafted in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft by the Lightning, Vasilevskiy has developed into one of the best young goaltenders in the NHL. He has proven that he is perhaps ready for a starting role. At the very least, he certainly costs less than Bishop. It’s hard to gauge what kind of return Bishop would get, but it’s hard to imagine that the Lightning won’t get at least a first round pick in return for him.

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