New Lightning goalie Ben Bishop has sometimes been hung out to dry by Tampa Bay’s lackluster defending. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

It was a nice bit of work by Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman to outbid the competition and add Ben Bishop from Ottawa at the trade deadline. And it was an even neater trick to extend the netminder yesterday with a two-year, $4.6 million deal. That’s a reasonable cap hit for an emerging No. 1 (right around what Corey Crawford and Jimmy Howard currently make), and the short term gives Bishop time to prove himself in the role while allowing Yzerman to beat a fairly hasty retreat if he doesn’t.

Now that he’s committed to two promising but inexperienced goaltenders in Bishop and last summer’s prize acquisition, Anders Lindback, it’s time to get serious about the real problem in Tampa.

Remember Bishop’s flashy debut for the Lightning? The key takeaway from that scintillating performance wasn’t that he recorded a shutout in a 5-0 thrashing of the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s that he faced down a career-high 45 shots in the process.

And that tells you exactly where Yzerman’s full attention should be focused this summer.

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The once-sizzling Montreal Canadiens appear to be resting on their laurels of late. (Minas Panagiotakis/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• Let’s just say that the reaction in Edmonton was mixed, at best, to the news that the Oilers had fired GM Steve Tambellini and replaced him with Craig MacTavish. There was a heated exchange with reporters over the hiring of the team’s former coach amid a perception that little had changed with the move. I’m slightly more optimistic, but it’s clear from the local reaction that this is the last kick at the can for team president Kevin Lowe.

• Bruce McCurdy takes a hard look at the lineup that MacTavish inherits, with an eye on the holes that need to be addressed.

• Carey Price got the hook for the second consecutive game as the Habs were overmatched in every way against the Flyers. Price will take the heat, but this looks like a team that’s taken its foot off the gas since clinching a playoff berth. They now have three games in four nights to rediscover their mojo.

• Even before his team’s offense finally woke up in that win over the Canadiens, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren indicated that coach Peter Laviolette’s job is safe. I can only imagine how warmly that news will be greeted in Philadelphia.

• Here’s a look at how the postponement of last night’s Bruins-Senators game played out in the wake of the Boston Marathon explosions. Not surprisingly, it was chaotic.

• Nobody should be penciling them into the lineup just yet, but the Penguins were thrilled to see Sidney Crosby, James Neal and Paul Martin back at practice on Monday.

• The injuries have allowed the Pens to get a look at depth players like Joe Vitale, Dustin Jeffrey and Simon Despres, all of whom are likely to be called upon if the team makes a deep playoff run.

• Cam Charron takes another stab at convincing the public that advanced analytics are the wave of the present in hockey. It can be interesting stuff, but when you try to win over non-believers with stats like “score-tied shots differential,” don’t be surprised when eyes quickly glaze over.

• Big Shot, a documentary about John Spano’s ill-fated attempt to purchase the Islanders, gets its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival this week. Directed by Kevin Connolly — yes, E from Entourage — the film eventually will be aired as part of ESPN’s 30 For 30 series.

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Minus a few teeth, but otherwise fine after taking a puck to the jaw, Sidney Crosby hung out with his teammates. (Photo by Gene J. Puskar/AP)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• Sidney Crosby is out of the hospital and on his way to recovery. He stopped by the Pens’ practice on Thursday where Coach Dan Bylsma was hoping the time on ice would help acclimate the team’s new players to Pittsburgh’s system.

• New details emerged on the Roberto Luongo-to-the-Leafs trade talk…and they ain’t pretty…

• Zack Kassian is back with the Canucks after being sent to the AHL for a behavior timeout. So, apparently hanging out at the bars with your buds is frowned on when you’re supposed to be rehabbing a back injury.

• Ben Bishop was dazzling in his debut with the Lightning, stopping 45 shots for his second career shutout. That sound you hear emanating from up north is thousands of Senators fans, gently rocking themselves and repeating, “Robin Lehner is the future….Robin Lehner is the future…”

• Jaromir Jagr gave the Bruins the net presence they needed in his Boston debut.

• No one knows why there’s a WWE belt hanging in Marian Gaborik’s locker, but no one was asking after his stellar debut with the Blue Jackets. The 4-1 win was Columbus’ first regulation victory in Nashville in seven years.

• New center Derek Roy displayed immediate chemistry with Chris Higgins, helping the Canucks romp over the Oilers.

• Joffrey Lupul is 50/50 to practice today after being demolished early in Toronto’s Thursday night loss to Philly.

• Montreal GM Marc Bergevin took some heat for a quiet trade deadline, but he’d already made his big deal when he acquired Michael Ryder. The streaky winger kept up his sizzling pace, scoring two more Thursday night to power the Habs over the Jets. That’s s nine goals in 11 games for the sniper.

• With the season lost in Calgary, they’re starting to cheer for losses with all eyes on the draft.

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Broadway smash: Ryane Clowe and the retooled Rangers pounded the Penguins. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• Roberto Luongo may say his contract sucks, but no one believes he’ll nullify it even though money isn’t buying him happiness.

• It’s official: Glen Sather won the trade deadline. After watching his new guys light it up, guess we can go ahead and hand them the Cup, eh?

• Here’s a New York view of the Marian Gaborik trade, and here’s what they were saying in Columbus 1 and 2. And here’s a copy of his no-trade waiver. Ever seen one of these before?

• The Blue Jackets also bid goodbye to Steve Mason, the author of the greatest moment in franchise history.

• Jim Matheson labels the Bruins, Penguins and Blue Jackets the winners of the trade sweepstakes.

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Ryan Miller of the Sabres could become only the second starting goaltender under contract to be traded since 2010.  (Jerome Davis/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

So you say your team has a goalie it might want to move before the trade deadline. Maybe he’s been an Olympian or an All-Star. Maybe he’s just a young buck with potential to be both.

And since everyone knows that a good keeper can make or break a team, you’re wanting a fair return in any transaction. Fair as in, a first-rounder, a top prospect, a roster player, concession stand rights and maybe a little something off the top for the guys who are working hard down on the loading docks.

Well, it rarely works out that way. In fact, most returns when a goaltender is moved are fairly underwhelming.

Are Bruins inflating market for Malcom Subban?

To set the stage for what could be a couple of interesting swaps over the next week, we collected every trade involving a netminder during the past four years. There are no 1:1 comparisons to this year’s market — unless Ben Bishop moves again, obviously — but there are a couple of transactions that give you an idea of what to expect when you expect your goalie to be dealt.

Keep in mind that a player’s contract situation is likely the single most important factor in any trade discussion.

Note that this list only includes deals in which a goaltender was a major component so, for example, the 2012 trade that saw Calgary get Karri Ramo as a throw-in along with Mike Cammalleri isn’t included (although Ramo now figures prominently into the team’s future plans).

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Ben Bishop’s recent play as Ottawa’s starter has upped his trade value. (Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

“They’ve already figured him out,” the scout said. “Get him moving laterally and he doesn’t look so big anymore, does he?”

That bit of insight was passed along during Ben Bishop’s rookie season with the junior A Texas Tornado in 2004-05. Seemed reasonable at the time, but looking back I’m not sure if it was a bit of sandbagging from a guy who hoped the promising goaltender would slip to his team in the draft that summer (Bishop didn’t), or a shortsighted read of a kid whose 6′-7″ frame was so far removed from the model that it forced everyone to find and focus on his flaws…or else completely reevaluate their notions of the ideal netminder.

After eight years and countless knocks about his side-to-side struggles, Bishop appears to have worked out whatever kinks existed in his style. And now the Ottawa Senators, who gambled a second-round pick last season that the St. Louis Blues cast-off could shore up their nets while starter Craig Anderson was injured, might have the deepest pool of goaltending talent in the league…and a brewing controversy to go with it.

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