The Dallas Stars traded injured goalie Ben Bishop to the Buffalo Sabres in a salary cap-related transaction Friday.
Bishop, 35, announced in December that he doesn’t expect to play again due to a degenerative right knee injury that caused him to miss the past two seasons.
The Sabres are taking on the final year of Bishop’s contract, a $4.92 million cap hit, to move their payroll closer to the league’s $60 million minimum.
Buffalo, which also received a seventh-round pick in next month’s draft, was projected to be almost $20 million below that threshold before acquiring Bishop.
The Stars made the trade in exchange for future considerations.
A two-time All-Star, the 6-foot-7 Bishop said he first injured the knee during the 2019 postseason against the St. Louis Blues.
Pain persisted throughout the 2019-20 season with his final appearance coming on Aug. 31, 2020, in a second-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche.
Bishop owns a 222-128-36 record with 33 shutouts, a 2.32 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in 413 NHL games with the St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings and Stars. He led the NHL with a 2.06 GAA in 2015-16 as a member of the Lightning.
–Field Level Media