Dallas Stars: Ben Bishop deserves Vezina Trophy consideration

Andrei Vasilevskiy is getting a lot of talk as being the Vezina Trophy favorite. But voters should also consider Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop.

Each season, the NHL awards the Vezina Trophy to the best goaltender in the league. It’s a controversial award because, frankly, nobody really knows how to properly evaluate goalies. Andrei Vasilevskiy is getting a lot of talk as the Vezina favorite, but Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop should be in the conversation as well.

Vasilevskiy leads the league in most of the important categories. He’s the NHL’s leader in GSAA (all situations), save percentage (min. 2500 minutes during all situations), and despite missing most of November with an injury, is ninth in total saves.

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However, Bishop has a strong case as well. First of all, the Stars aren’t nearly as good of a team as the Lightning. Tampa’s star forward Nikita Kucherov is the Art Ross favorite and the Hart Trophy favorite.

Furthermore, it’s hard to predict how the players will vote, but it’s hard to think they won’t name him as the Ted Lindsay Award winner. Whether it’s fair or not, this will most likely hurt Vasilevskiy’s case.

Secondly, let’s break down his numbers. Bishop is the leader among goalies with at least 2,000 minutes during all situations with a .930 save percentage. He’s right behind Vasilevskiy in GSAA as well (28.38 to 30.07). Furthermore, Bishop is the NHL’s leader in high-danger save percentage, stopping 88.1 percent of the high-danger chances he faces.

Thirdly, as important as Vasilevskiy has been to the Lightning, Bishop has been even more important to the Stars. Dallas doesn’t have the offense Tampa has. The Stars have scored the third-fewest goals in the league, meaning they need Bishop to be at his best to have a chance of winning.

What Might Cost Him The Vezina

There is, however, one thing that might cost Bishop the Vezina Trophy. Sadly, it’s something beyond his control. Bishop has only played in 43 games (42 starts). This might not be enough games for voters to justify voting for him.

50 games should be enough to make him safe, but keep in mind the Stars have already played 75 games as of March 25. Bishop would have to play in each game to get to 50 appearances. If he gets to 49 stats, that ought to be close enough.

However, the Stars have two sets of games on back-to-back nights in their last seven games. This doesn’t bode well for Bishop’s chances. Perhaps the general managers (who vote on the Vezina) won’t care. But history suggests they do care about how many games a goaltender plays.

Bishop should be in the Vezina discussion. If the GMs feel like Vasilevskiy is the more deserving candidate because he has better numbers, that’s fine. But it would be a darn shame if they don’t vote for Bishop solely because of how many games he has played.