The Dallas Stars’ off-season To-Do List had “GET A NEW GOALIE!!!” bolded and underlined. General manager Jim Nill can now take out a sharpie and cross that one off after signing Ben Bishop to a six-year, $29.5-million contract Friday.
If Bishop, whose rights were acquired from the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday, can manage to stay healthy this could end up being a steal of a contract for the Stars. After all, a $4,916,667 annual salary cap hit for a quality starting goaltender is a bargain.
The 30-year-old should be a massive upgrade over both Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. That duo split starts for Dallas this past season (Lehtonen had 52 and Niemi 30) and neither fared well. Only the lowly Colorado Avalanche allowed more goals than the Stars in 2016-17.
[relatedlinks]
Not only did they put up poor numbers, they don’t come at a cheap cost either. Their combined salary cap hit is $10.4 million yet luckily for Nill’s sake both will be unrestricted free agents following the 2017-18 campaign.
With Bishop added into the fold the Stars now have $15,316,667 tied up in their crease. With pending UFAs Patrick Sharp, Ales Hemsky and Jiri Hudler all likely coming off the books it makes the situation between the pipes more manageable from a cap perspective.
Bishop is 130-63-21 in the past four seasons, spent mostly with the Tampa Bay Lightning before being dealt to the Kings in February. Over that four-year period Bishop ranks fourth in wins, fifth in goals-against average (2.26) and eighth in in save percentage (.920) and shutouts (16).
This deal looks like a home run—at least for the time being. If his play fizzles, however, the Stars might find themselves in a similar situation to the one the Islanders are in with Jaroslav Halak and his $4.5-million cap hit.
With that in mind, here are a handful of netminders from around the NHL with similar contracts that Bishop will likely be compared to in the coming years.
Frederik Andersen (five years, $25 million, $5-million cap hit)
The Toronto Maple Leafs were in a similar situation to the Stars in the sense that they needed a solid foundation in net to build around and they chose to solve that problem with a trade. Bishop had a down year and Andersen posted slightly better winning and save percentages. They have identical .918 career save percentages although Bishop has started 135 more games. Andersen is three years younger than Bishop and signed his deal when he was slated to become an RFA.
Jimmy Howard (six years, $31.7 million, $5,291,667 cap hit)
Bishop and Howard share a similarity in the sense they were both established stars that earned lucrative contracts on their respective teams only to lose their spot as the every-night starter to a netminder in his early-to-mid-20s. Petr Mrazek appears to be the goalie of the future in Detroit while Andrei Vasilevskiy is the main reason Bishop was made expendable in Tampa.
Devan Dubnyk (six years, $26 million, $4,333,333 cap hit)
Both Dubnyk and Bishop bounced around on a few teams earlier in their careers—Bishop on the Blues and Sens; Dubnyk on the Oilers, Preds and Coyotes—but when they eventually landed in a spot that worked they became Vezina contenders. Dubnyk is coming off his first 40-win season. Bishop on the other hand just had his worst season as a starter, statistically speaking.
Mike Smith (six years, $34 million, $5,666,667 cap hit)
Bishop has been on far better teams for the majority of his career so his record and GAA are vastly superior to Smith’s. The Coyotes veteran has struggled since signing his long-term extension as a 31-year-old. Smith has been more likely to steal a game singlehandedly throughout his career, earning a shutout in 7.6 per cent of his starts compared to Bishop’s 6.9 per cent. Henrik Lundqvist is the only goalie to face more shots than Smith since 2010-11.
Other cap comparables:
— Kari Lehtonen, five years, $29.5 million, $5.9-million cap hit
— Roberto Luongo, 12 years, $64 million, $5,333,333 cap hit
— Jaroslav Halak, four years, $18 million, $4.5-million cap hit
— Antti Niemi, three years, $13.5 million, $4.5-million cap hit
— Jake Allen, four years, $17.4 million, $4.35-million cap hit
— Cam Talbot, three years, $12.5 million, $4,166,667 cap hit
— Scott Darling, four years, $16.6 million, $4.15-million cap hit
