The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded goalie Ben Bishop to the Los Angeles Kings.
Bishop has been with the Bolts since 2013 and helped lead them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2015 and to the Eastern Conference Final in 2016.
With the expansion draft looming after the season, the Lightning could only protect one goalie. The move to trade Bishop now gives the Lightning something in return instead of losing him in the expansion draft.
Bishop is 16-12-3 this season.
As part of the trade, Lightning have acquired goaltender Peter Budaj, defenseman Erik Cernak, a seventh-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft as well as a conditional pick in 2017 from the Los Angeles Kings.
Budaj, 6-foot-1, 196 pounds, has played in 53 games with the Kings this season, posting a 27-20-3 record with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage with seven shutouts. Budaj, 34, has appeared in 350 NHL games with Los Angeles, the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche, with a 152-127-39 record with 18 shutouts.
Cernak, 6-3, 221 pounds, has skated in 41 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters this season, registering three goals and 17 points, along with a plus-27 rating. The 19-year-old defenseman has played in 82 career OHL games with Erie, recording seven goals and 32 points with a plus-34 rating.
