from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,
The 29-year-old netminder got a clue at the NHL draft last June when a potential trade with the Calgary Flames fell through because he couldn't come to terms on a contract extension with the Flames (a stipulation his camp made, given that he had a no-move clause). Instead, the Flames traded for Brian Elliott and Bishop, who is in the final year of his deal (at $5.95 million), remained with the Lightning. It's a bit awkward, perhaps, but it's part of the business.
"It's one of those things that could have happened but it fell through," Bishop said Monday, shrugging, when asked about the Calgary (near)-trade. "Being around long enough, you realize that sometimes there are going to be business decisions made. And if they don't work, they don't work, and there's nothing you can really do about it. You can't sit there and sulk or worry about it. You have to just go out there and keep playing. I'm pretty fortunate to have a job with Tampa. It's a great team and a great place to play. So I'm pretty happy about everything going on.''
There's no question that the team showed its hand ahead of next June's expansion draft before the new Las Vegas team enters the league, when clubs will only be able to protect one goalie -- not only in the attempted trade with Calgary but also when it signed 22-year-old Andrei Vasilevskiy to a three-year, $10.5-million contract extension this past offseason.
So what now?
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