Stars won't protect goaltender Ben Bishop for Seattle expansion draft

The Seattle Kraken will be able to select current Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop in the expansion draft that will be held next Wednesday. 

Whether or not Seattle will go that route remains anybody's guess. 

Per Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News and ESPN/The Associated Press, Bishop has agreed to waive his no-movement clause for the draft, and he won't be on Dallas' protected list that is due Saturday. Instead, Dallas will protect veteran goalie Anton Khudobin. 22-year-old Jake Oettinger is not eligible for the expansion draft.

"I thought that was a good move for him and the team," Bishop's agent Allain Roy told The Dallas Morning News (h/t Defending Big D). "In the big picture, the goal is to win the Stanley Cup, so I think he felt that was the right move for the team to be the best team possible next year. Makes sense." 

Bishop was originally supposed to miss roughly five months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee last November but instead was sidelined through the entire 2020-21 campaign. As Tyler Mair noted for Defending Big D, there are concerns the 34-year-old won't be available for the start of next season, and that could keep Seattle from taking a flier on him next week.