NHL Trade Rumors: Ben Bishop was nearly dealt to Calgary Flames

Ben Bishop was extremely close to being traded to the Calgary Flames at the 2016 NHL Draft.

The 2016 NHL Draft saw some exciting trades. Montreal Canadiens center Lars Eller went to the Washington Capitals. Pavel Dastyuk’s contract went to the Arizona Coyotes. However, the biggest trade at the draft was by the Calgary Flames when they traded for St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott. The Flames nearly made a trade for Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop.

Exactly how far did the trade talks progress? The Flames received permission from the Lightning to discuss an extension with Bishop. Since Bishop’s contract expires at the end of the 2016-17 season, an extension was likely mandatory for the Flames to trade for Bishop.

“It looked like for a little bit it was going to happen,” Bishop told the Tampa Bay Times. “At kind of the last minute [Calgary] went out and got Elliott. It was close, but there was never… It wasn’t that close, obviously.”

What caused the trade talks to die down? It was likely the Lightning’s asking price for Bishop. Tampa Bay wanted a lot for Bishop, and rightfully so. Bishop is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. He was a Vezina Trophy finalist last season. Tampa Bay also knew that Calgary desperately needed goaltending. They most likely wanted a first round pick for him. Calgary decided to go with Elliott instead, giving up a 2016 second round pick and conditional third round pick in 2018.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Lightning traded Bishop at some point. They recently signed his backup Andrei Vasilevskiy to a three-year extension, suggesting that they’ll be moving on from Bishop after this season. Don’t be shocked if Bishop winds up being traded to the Dallas Stars or a team that finds themselves needing an upgrade in net.