Bishop excited about rights moving to Stars, gearing up for contract talks

Ben Bishop appears quite happy about the idea of playing for the Dallas Stars.

The veteran goalie's rights were acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, and while Bishop can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, he's hopeful a contract can be agreed upon to keep him in Texas.

"I don't want to get ahead of myself, because I know we have the negotiating process to go through, but I'm excited," Bishop said, per Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. "I know the area down there, I graduated from Frisco High School (north of the city), and I know how passionate the fans are there. I was just really excited to hear (about the trade)."

Bishop knows new head coach Ken Hitchcock from his time with the St. Louis Blues, and also sees familiar potential in the Stars.

"I think we have a good relationship, and I know his teams in St. Louis were tough to play against," Bishop said.

"Like I said, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but this looks a lot like the team we had in Tampa when I first got there. There is plenty of firepower to score goals, and the opportunity is there to work on the other areas and improve those areas."

Bishop, 30, is coming off a two-year deal signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning that carried a salary cap hit of $5.95 million.

The two-time Vezina Trophy finalist likely won't come cheap, but he could be just what the Stars need to get back to the ranks of Stanley Cup hopefuls.