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Dallas Stars: Last Year’s Grade, Next Year’s Guess: Ben Bishop

By Summer LeBel

DALLAS, TX - FEBRUARY 05: Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop (30) makes the save against during the game between the Dallas Stars and the New York Rangers on February 5, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Dallas defeats New York 2-1. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - FEBRUARY 05: Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop (30) makes the save against during the game between the Dallas Stars and the New York Rangers on February 5, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Dallas defeats New York 2-1. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Today’s focus is on Ben Bishop in the newest edition of our series on Dallas Stars player grades.

When the Dallas Stars acquired Ben Bishop last summer, he was expected to come in and help fix the mess that was the Kari Lehtonen/Antti Niemi goaltending tandem.

Last Season

Ben Bishop’s 2017-18 Grade: B+

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Before Bishop came in, the Stars’ goaltending was a bit of a joke around the league. The pair of Niemi and Lehtonen ended 2016-17 at a combined .899 save percentage with a 3.01 GAA, and Niemi’s buyout was pretty much inevitable at that point.

Last year, Bishop came in and blew Niemi’s numbers out of the water, but Lehtonen also had an improved season. Lehtonen went from a .902 in 2016-17 to a .912 in 2017-18, which was great from a back-up.

Bishop himself had a .916 save percentage, the highest of any Stars goalie since 2013-14. It was a nice relief from where the Stars had been at, giving fans some hope in net.

Unfortunately, Bishop got hurt during the season. It wasn’t long-term, but it still meant the Stars had to rely on Lehtonen. Luckily, Lehtonen was having a better season than his last few, so it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.

Bishop’s season was certainly an improvement on recent Stars goaltending, but it wasn’t an elite season by any means. The Stars don’t necessarily need elite goaltending if they can work out their other issues, but it would help if Bishop could make a serious case for himself.

Next Season

Next year, the Stars could use an even better season from Bishop. He’s only two seasons removed from when he was a Vezina finalist, three seasons from when he was in the Stanley Cup Final, and four seasons from his other Vezina finalist nod. He had a worse year than his career average, so he can do better.

Bishop will be almost 32 this fall, which isn’t young, but it’s also certainly well within a reasonable age range to expect him to be able to play well. If he can stay healthy and improve on his numbers, the Stars could be looking at some seriously reliable goaltending for the first time in a long time, especially if Anton Khudobin can provide a stable back-up.

Next. Last Year’s Grade, Next Year’s Guess: Gemel Smith. dark

Stop back by over the weekend as we grade Brett Ritchie and start getting to the players who played almost the whole season.

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