Andrei Vasilevskiy will forever be indebted to Ben Bishop.
With the former Vezina Trophy winner now a member of the Los Angeles Kings - following a trade just days before the deadline - Vasilevskiy is now the Tampa Bay Lightning's No. 1 goalie, but he credits Bishop for acting as a mentor for him during his start in the league.
"When I first got here, I was looking at him like, 'This guy is the best goalie in the NHL,'" Vasilevskiy said, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "I told him he's like my old brother, old teacher. I'm really thankful for him. He's a nice guy and unbelievable goalie. He'll stay in my heart forever."
While Vasilevskiy is now clearly the club's undisputed No. 1, the 22-year-old is adamant that he will not be taking the position for granted.
"I don't want to say, 'Bish is gone, I'm 100 percent No. 1,'" Vasilevskiy said. "I'm not going to (mess) around. I will work even more and show everybody that I deserve to be here and deserve to be the starting goalie."
Early on, Vasilevskiy appears to be living up to his word having gone a perfect 3-0-0 with a .949 save percentage since the Bishop trade.
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