Goalie Ben Bishop has been traded from Ottawa to Tampa Bay for rookie-of-the-year candidate Cory Conacher and a fourth-round pick.
Bishop, 26, went 8-5-0 with an impressive .922 save percentage this season for Ottawa, but the 6-foot-7 netminder was deemed expendable with Craig Anderson already the Senators’ starter and rookie 21-year-old Robin Lehner showing he’s ready to play in the NHL as well.
Bishop will join a Tampa Bay team that’s received inconsistent goaltending from Anders Lindback, Mathieu Garon and, to a lesser extent, Cedrick Desjardins.
As it stands, Bishop will likely battle Lindback for the number one job going forward. (Both Garon and Desjardins are unrestricted free agents.)
The price the Lightning paid for Bishop was certainly “significant.” Conacher, 23, has 24 points in 35 games, ranking the diminutive Canisius College product second behind only Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau in NHL rookie scoring.