Ben Bishop is hanging up his pads after an 11-year NHL career due to a knee injury, Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill said Saturday, according to The Dallas Morning News' Matthew DeFranks.
The Stars netminder hasn't played a regular-season game since March 10, 2020. Bishop made three appearances for Dallas during the 2020 bubble playoffs in August.
The 35-year-old underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in October 2020 and has spent the last 14 months rehabbing the injury. The organization assigned Bishop to the AHL's Texas Stars on a rehab assignment this past week, and he allowed eight goals on 34 shots in his lone appearance.
"It’s no secret, he has a degenerative knee injury, and he went down there, he wanted to be a big part of this," Nill said. "He wanted to do everything he could to get back. In the end, by going through the process, going down there and playing, he found out that it’s the end of his career."
Bishop finishes with 222 wins, 33 shutouts, a 2.32 goals against average, and a .921 save percentage - the latter of which currently ranks fifth on the all-time list behind Dominik Hasek, Ken Dryden, Tuukka Rask, and Jack Campbell.
The 6-foot-7 goaltender was a Vezina Trophy finalist three times in 2014, 2016, and 2019 but never won the award. In addition to his time with the Stars, Bishop also played for the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators, and St. Louis Blues.
Bishop is in the fifth campaign of a six-year, $29.5-million contract. He was recalled from his conditioning loan on Saturday and placed on long-term injured reserve, where he will remain through the duration of his deal.
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