Tampa Bay Lightning: How Elite Is Ben Bishop?

After two full seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ben Bishop has gone from a no name backup to one of the best goaltenders in the NHL.

Two and a half years ago, Ben Bishop was splitting time between the NHL and AHL in the Ottawa Senators organization. He was dealt to Ottawa from the St.Louis Blues for a second round pick after being with the Blues organization since he was drafted in the third round of the 2005 NHL Draft.

He spent time in both the NHL and the organizations minor league affiliate in Binghamton, but due to an injury to starter Craig Anderson, Bishop was called and later earned a permanent spot as the teams backup.

Just two months later, Bishop was involved in a trade that would change his career. Ottawa sent the Denver, Colorado native to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for forward Cory Conacher and a fourth round pick. Ottawa felt that Robin Lehner was ready to take the reigns as the teams full time backup and Bishop became a tradable asset.

The Anders Lindback experiment was not panning out well in Tampa Bay, and knowing the team needed an upgrade between the pipes, General Manager Steve Yzerman sent the former AHL MVP and fan favorite Conacher over to Ottawa knowing he had many high potential forward prospects ready to make the leap to the NHL.

When the news broke that the Lightning had traded Conacher for an unproven goaltender, fans seemed ready to grab their pitchforks and torches in anger.

Yes, Conacher was having a nice season in Tampa Bay scoring 24 points in 35 games, but what the average fan didn’t know is that the teams prospect pool was jam packed with quality young talent that would eventually make up the young core that makes up one of the NHL’s scariest young teams today, and an eventual number one goaltender in Bishop who would later rank among the leagues elite.

Not to mention that Cory Conacher ended up playing with four different NHL organizations in a two year time frame before eventually leaving the United States and signing a contract to play with SC Bern in Switzerland (coached by former Lightning head coach Guy Boucher)

After landing in Tampa, Bishop’s nine game tryout proved to the team that he was ready to take the reigns as the teams number one goaltender when the 2013-2014 season began, and earned a two-year $4.6 million dollar contract extension.

That season proved to be Bishop’s coming out party as the 6’7 215 lb goaltender won 37 games while posting a 2.23 GAA and .924 SV%. He was also named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as one of the leagues top goaltenders.

Unfortunately, he was unable to participate with the team in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs due to a broken wrist that would later require surgery.

This past season, Bishop had another solid season between the pipes and proved that the previous year was not a fluke. He won 40 games and posted a 2.32 GAA and .916 SV%.

The team once again would make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Bishop helped the team defeat the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadians, and New York Rangers in order to reach the Stanley Cup Finals before eventually being defeated by the Chicago Blackhawks. Bishop was fantastic in his playoff debut finishing with a 2.18 GAA and .921 SV% to go along with two game seven shutouts.

With his second full season in the NHL as a full time starter now completed, Bishop was proven that he has the ability to lead a team to a successful playoff run.

He carried his great play from the regular season into the playoffs and stole a bunch or games for Lightning when they were not on their best. The question now remains, where does Big Ben rank among the leagues elite goaltenders?

There is no doubt that some of the leagues top goaltenders such as Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist, and Tuukka Rask rank as the top three goaltenders in the NHL. However, after that there is an argument of who should file behind those three big names when discussing the NHL’s elite.

Some names that come to mind are Jonathan Quick, Cory Schneider, and Sergei Bobrovsky. Quick has two Stanley Cup’s and is money in the playoffs so he has a big of an advantage even though his regular seasons numbers did not exactly rank among the leagues elite, but Schneider and Bobrovsky do not have the strong resume that Quick has.

Schneider, like Bishop, has just started as a full time NHL starter, but plays on a New Jersey Devils team who has no Stanley Cup title envisions in the near future. He is good, but there is a chance that New Jersey runs him into the ground with the amount they are playing him playing him. However, there is no doubt his .925 SV% and 2.26 GAA on a horrible team is pretty good.

As for Bobrovsky, after being traded from the Philadelphia Flyers, the Russian goalie has found a home with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Last season, both Bobrovsky and the team got off to a slow start and injuries once again cut his season short.

However, the Blue Jackets went on a historic run in the regular season and Bobrovsky was a huge part of that, but fell short of qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He finished with a .918 SV% and 2.69 GAA. Bobrovsky was good, but was he good enough to rank ahead of Bishop in turns of the leagues elite?

Bishop should be considered as a top five goaltender in the NHL. Behind only past Vezina Trophy winners and proven winners in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning goalie has proven he can help the organization win their second Stanley Cup.

With a 2-year extension worth $11.9 million dollars kicking in starting his year, he is also now being payed like an elite goaltender. Two more years of Ben Bishop playing at an elite level while in the prime of his career with an offense that can produce a ton of goals? That is fantastic news for Tampa Bay Lightning fans and bad news for the rest of the league.

Next: Tampa Bay Very Formidable In Quest To Host 2018 WJC

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