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Nill: Signing Bishop shows Stars building a ‘winning environment’ in Dallas

Tampa Bay Lightning v New York Islanders

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 01: Ben Bishop #30 of the Tampa Bay Lightning tends net against the New York Islanders during the second period at the Barclays Center on November 1, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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It’s been quite an offseason for the Dallas Stars.

-- Ken Hitchcock was hired as the club’s head coach.

-- The Stars had a big move up the selection order to third overall in the Entry Draft courtesy the lottery.

-- Vegas traded defenseman Marc Methot to Dallas, which should help improve that blue line.

-- The Stars signed a pair of forwards -- Alex Radulov, who had a great season in Montreal, and Martin Hanzal, a towering force up the middle.

The biggest move Stars general manager Jim Nill could’ve made was to improve the goaltending situation -- something that was desperately needed -- and the acquisition and re-signing of Ben Bishop should provide just such an upgrade in net.

Yes, the Stars still have $10.8 million committed to two goalies for one more season, with the 30-year-old Bishop signed to $4.916 million per year for six years and Kari Lehtonen with one more year left at $5.9 million, before he’s an unrestricted free agent.

Read more: Bishop says health not an issue -- important, since he’s signed until 2023

But in Bishop, the Stars have a goalie with a career save percentage of .919, helped along by three particularly strong seasons in Tampa Bay, from 2013-14 to 2015-16. He was a Vezina finalist in two of those three seasons. With a window to win right now, despite a setback and missing the playoffs this past season, getting a capable No. 1 goalie was an absolute necessity for Dallas.

“He committed his six years to this. He wanted to be on a winning team,” said Nill. “I think that kind of showed the rest of the league that this is a place to come here and play and that it was going to be a winning environment.

“It’s been a busy offseason. It’s been a good offseason. But I think the big message is ... first of all, this game’s pretty humbling. We like what we’ve done but we’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’ve got to get to a point with this franchise where we’re in the playoffs every year.”

The Stars aren’t done with offseason moves yet, either. They still have to get 23-year-old center Radek Faksa under contract. He’s currently a restricted free agent, after a 33-point season.