I get what you're saying and I absolutely agree about his importance to the team, but keeping Bishop means losing a good chunk of our core just as they're entering their prime years. Without the cap going up Yzerman would have to pull off a miraculous series of moves to clear up the cap space to keep all our key players. We haven't been able to score points as it is and losing one or two of our best scorers is not going to help matters (and that's not even mentioning the defensive impact of losing guys like Palat and Killorn.)
Who do we have in the organization that can fill Palat's or Killorn's shoes? Perhaps Point could offensively, but he's not the defensive player that either of those forwards is. Gusev again offensively, but he's not going to come over unless we're going to pay him and with Bishop we can't afford to do so. Ernie's not exactly blowing the doors off the AHL. And any of those guys is going to be at least a couple years away from producing at a high level in the NHL, by which point Bishop could well be declining.
I absolutely hate to lose Bishop but ultimately we have better and more ready organizational depth at goal than we do at top six forward right now. The Pens are in the Finals right now and the Rangers and Canadiens are watching from their couches - which team should we emulate?
I'm way more concerned about who would fill Bishop's shoes.
Again, if Stamkos walks, I don't see how we couldn't make it work with Bishop. We're talking about a raise that's likely to be 1.5m max above his current contract. Meanwhile, we have the Stamkos, Filppula, Callahan, and Carle contracts. Coburn's contract is moveable. There are a lot of better places to find extra $ than the contract of our MVP.
I still think we have to make Vasy pry the job from Bishop, and he just hasn't done that yet. We look like garbage in front of Vasy the same way we looked like garbage in front of Lindback, and, IMO, it has a lot to do with their similar styles. Vasy can make great saves, but he's years away from managing the game the way Bishop does.
If we can keep both guys, I'm all for it, and then, over time, Vasy will take the job. But in the here and now? I feel like we're a cup contender with Bishop, but not with Vasy.