Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop is set to make his return to the ice on Tuesday for the first time this offseason since suffering an injury during the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs reported ESPN’s Joe McDonald on Monday.
McDonald reported that Bishop spent the first half of the summer rehabilitating a high-ankle and shin sprain he suffered during the first period of Game 1 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Final, shown below:
Bishop was stretchered off the ice and was lost for the remainder of the series. Andrei Vasilevskiy took over the starting role in each of the next six games, helping lead the Lightning to a decisive Game 7 before being eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins the eventual Stanley Cup champions.
Bishop, 29, is entering the final season of a two-year contract worth $11.9 million. During the 2016-17 season, Bishop will earn $5.95 million and has been rumored to be a trade candidate given the Lightning’s current salary cap situation and with Vasilevskiy’s three-year contract extension signed on July 1.
Since being traded to the Lightning by the Ottawa Senators on Apr. 3, 2013, Bishop has become one of the top goaltenders in the NHL. In three full seasons as the team’s starter, Bishop has played in 186 regular season games and has posted a 112-48-16 record with 16 shutouts, a 2.20 goals against average and .922 save percentage.
Bishop, a two-time Vezina trophy finalist, has backstopped the Lighting to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final and 2016 Eastern Conference Final the past two seasons.
