Trade rumors continue to swirl around one of the NHL's best goalies.

It's crazy to think that one of the best goaltenders in the National Hockey League could be traded, but it's looking more and more like that will in fact be the case at some point this season.

While the rumors of a trade involving Ben Bishop in the offseason did cool off a little this summer, during Tampa Bay Lightning day on Pro Hockey Talk, PFT's Mike Halford reiterated his beliefthat it's only a matter of when, not if, when it comes to Bishop.

Yet his time in Tampa Bay is ticking away.

Bishop’s heading into the last year of his contract — one that pays $5.9 million annually — and the writing on the wall suggests it’ll be his last pact with the Lightning.

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It's become abundantly clear that despite the fact that Bishop is unquestionably one of the best in the NHL, his backup Andrei Vasilevskiy is the man being viewed as the goaltender of the future for the Tampa Bay Lightning. If there were any doubts about this fact they were quickly erased when the Lightning gave Vasilevskiy a massive $10.5 million dollar extensions this summer.

Add to that the fact that the Lightning will likely be giving star forward Nikita Kucherov a big raise right around the time Bishop's contract runs out and the numbers also point to the extreme likelihood of a move from Tampa.

The more difficult question now becomes where Bishop will end up, and while many believe that the Calgary Flames have shored up their goaltending by trading for Brian Elliott, it's worth noting that he has just one year on his deal, and there have been no talks of a possible extension. The Stars would be the other obvious choice where it not for the fact that they have so much money already invested in sub-par goaltending, but if they could find a way to make it work, they would almost certainly pull the trigger. Although when it comes to a player of Bishop's caliber it's anyone's guess as to the number of teams that could be involved.

And if you're jonesing for some hockey this summer you can also check out this sick game tying goal from Pavel Datsyuk in the KHL today.