I think if we'd had anyone outside the top 5 in net for us this year, we probably wouldn't have stolen enough games to make the playoffs. So I think you've got to go with the guy getting it done for you.
Bishop isn't just a top 3 goalie. He's arguably our best player. And I just think it's easier to find a goalie with the potential to be a top-3 goalie than it is to find a goalie who actually is in the top-3.
I agree, this is not an easy decision to make and there are pros and cons to each side. i only question how much new pads will affect a bigger goaltender such as bishop however he's good enough to where it shouldn't be too big of a problem.
I think a lot of it is going to come down to Stamkos, becase there is no way (barring an enormous overpayment in a trade) that we would get rid of kucherov and especially Hedman. if you keep those 3 there simply isn't enough room for bishop, we would need vasilevski's cheap contract in order to keep our team deep enough to compete for a cup. a core of Stamkos, Kucherov, Hedman and Bishop is fantastic but without depth they'd become the 2011-14 penguins, a team consistently capable of making the playoffs and winning a few rounds but not good enough to win it all.
That being said in my own opinion this is what i do.
1. Let Stamkos walk, it sucks to lose him but we just don't need him at the price he wants
2. re-sign bishop, Hedman and Kucherov to long term deals
3. we have 1st round and 2 second round picks this year, i propose we package some of those, along with vasilevski for a high first round draft pick where we can draft a potential replacement for Stamkos down the road. they'll probably never draft someone who will score 60 goals but they should be able to get high enough to have a very good chance at landing an impact two-way top 6 center, top 4 dman or another top winger.
They would obviously not get into the top 3 but when i look at the rest of the top 10 there is one team in particular that I'm looking at, and thats calgary. they are sitting at 6 and actually have a pretty talented roster overall. what they need though is a #1 goaltender and Vasilevski can be that perhaps as soon as next season. not only that but he's good enough to be a legitimate elite goalie and those are not easy to find. While we won't land Mathews, Laine or puljujarvi that next tier of players composing of Dubois, Tkachuck, Juolevi, nylander, sergachev, keller( i think this kid is SO underrated, book it he's going to be a star I'm telling you) and Chychyrun are all outstanding and i would love to have any one of them on my team.
i mean imagine a top 4 in a few years consisting of
Hedman-stralman
Koekkoek-chyrchrun/ juolevi/sergachev
or a top 6 with
palat-Dubois-Drouin
Killorn-Johnson-Kucherov
also the possibility to trade with edmonton at 4 as they have made it known they're willing to trade but they need defenseman more than anything, however the only two with enough value on our team (Hedman and Stralman) are not for sale so i don't know what this trade would be structured around.
