When the Dallas Stars acquired goaltender Ben Bishop in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings in May of 2017, it was in an attempt to fix one thing: their painfully inconsistent goaltending.
For nearly a decade, the Stars had suffered through various feats when it came to their crease. Part of their woes had to do with their constant recycling of backup goaltenders as they searched for a long-term answer. Dallas went through five backup goalies in a three-year span from 2013-2015 but could never find a proper answer. This failed search also contributed to the overusing of and eventual deterioration of Kari Lehtonen as a starting-caliber NHL goaltender.