Report: Bishop wasn’t Stars’ first choice

File this one under “awkward” for the Dallas Stars and newly acquired goaltender Ben Bishop. A report from NBC Sports’ Joey Alfieri this morning asserts that Stars general manager Jim Nill first tried to acquire the rights to former Chicago Blackhawks backup goaltender Scott Darling before ultimately turning his sights to Bishop.

Darling, of course, was acquired by the Carolina Hurricanes for a 3rd round draft pick and subsequently signed to a four-year, $16.6 million contract. Nill reportedly wasn’t up for paying such a steep acquisition price, but flipped a 4th round draft to the Los Angeles Kings for Bishop’s negotiating rights. With Bishop now locked up to a 6 year contract with an annual cap hit of nearly $1 million more than Darling’s, it’s clear that Nill was fine kicking those acquisition costs down the road a little further.

Regardless of the choice Nill made, Bishop over Darling, it’s clear that the Stars will have improved goaltending in 2017-18. Their underperforming tandem of Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen let them down far too often in 2016-17. With Big Ben now between the pipes in Dallas, expect one or both of Niemi or Lehtonen to be traded or bought-out this offseason.