Stars goaltender Ben Bishop agrees to waive no-move clause for expansion draft

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with a quote from Agent Ben Bishop.

Stars goaltender Ben Bishop has agreed to waive his no-move clause for Seattle’s upcoming expansion draft, Stars general manager Jim Nill says The morning news from Dallas Thursday morning.

Nill said Bishop approached the Stars about four weeks ago and believed it was in the best interests of the team for him to waive his no-go clause. Bishop’s decision allows the Stars to protect Anton Khudobin in the expansion draft, while Jake Oettinger is exempt from selection. The decision to forgo his NMC only applies to the expansion plan and not a trade-in, Nill confirmed.

“I thought it was a good decision for him and the team,” said Bishop’s agent Allain Roy. The news. “Overall the goal is to win the Stanley Cup so I think he felt it was the right decision to make the team the best possible team next year. Logic.”

Bishop did not play in the 2020-21 season after undergoing knee surgery in the offseason to repair a torn meniscus. He last played in the second round of the playoffs against Colorado last year, but hasn’t been a regular in Stars training since March 2020.

When in good health, Bishop is one of the best goalies in the league. He has been a finalist for the Vézina Trophy three times. He dominated the NHL in save percentage in 2018-19 and helped form one of the strongest goaltending duos in the NHL alongside Khudobin. In 2019, he made 52 saves in Game 7 against St. Louis, nearly leading Dallas to the Western Conference final.

Bishop, however, was injured in each of his four seasons in Dallas, missing 88 regular season games and 22 playoff games. Last season was the first time in his career that he was missing all year.

Bishop’s state of health for next season is unclear, and Seattle is unlikely to select him in next week’s expansion draft. He’s on contract for two more years with a cap of $ 4.917 million, money that could be applied to the long-term injury reserve if he couldn’t play.

Bishop’s decision to waive his no-move clause clarifies the troubled situation for goaltenders. At the start of the summer, the statutes of Khudobin and Oettinger were pending. Khudobin could have been selected by Seattle or traded or supported Bishop. Oettinger could have played in the NHL or the AHL.

Now, with Bishop’s health in question, the Stars could build on another season of a Khudobin-Oettinger tandem in the NHL, and Dallas can protect Seattle’s Khudobin thanks to Bishop’s pick.

Last season, the Stars placed 16th in the league with a .903 save percentage. Khudobin went 12-11-7 with a .905 save percentage and 2.54 goals-against average, while Oettinger was 11-8-7 with a. saves of .911 and an average of 2.36 in his rookie season.

Khudobin is entering the second season of a three-year contract that carries a cap of $ 3.333 million, while Oettinger will be in the final year of his entry-level contract.

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