Miners send Bishop “Flying” to Fonthill...

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

The Sudbury Miners and Fonthill Flying Squirrels made a move early Sunday morning, which ends weeks of hard discussions between the two organizations.

News of the trade broke early Sunday morning but wasn’t able to made official until the trade call was completed at the CCHL Headquarters in Dayton. The trade, which is now official, breaks down as follows:

• Sudbury sends G Ben Bishop, F Philip Danault along with a 2018 4^th round pick in exchange for F Zack Hyman, prospects Shane Bowers and Cal Foote and a 2^nd round pick in 2019.

Fonthill will take on Bishop’s $5.75 million cap hit, which expires after the 2018-19 season. Sudbury had to get Bishop to waive his no-trade clause to make this deal happen; the veteran had five teams on a no-trade list. Given Sudbury’s recent acquisition of Fredrick Andersen, Bishop knew his days in Sudbury were numbered.

"No one ever expects to be traded," Bishop said on a conference call. "But given the recent addition by the Miners, it’s something I knew would probably come this off-season. I’m excited to go to Fonthill but is it true that they have flying squirrels there?”

Bishop, who had a trying year in Sudbury, considering the Miners are in a rebuild mode and are one of the league’s youngest and weakest teams. He is expected to solidify the goaltending in Fonthill by giving them a true No.1 stopper and is another name that a new fan base can identify with.

From the Miners perspective, there was not enough crease for both Andersen and Bishop to thrive. Given Andersen is younger and has a smaller cap hit, the logical choice for the Miners was to get some assets for Bishop. By acquiring a couple of higher-end prospects and an early draft pick, this move stays in line with the franchise’s philosophy to build through the draft and promote from within.

“It’s never easy to part with a player of Bishop’s talent and character. He was an excellent player for us and he deserves a chance to win. We wanted to make sure he went to a team that would give him the chance to be a true No.1. But for us, at the end of the day, to acquire two high-end prospects (in Bowers and Foote) and also secure another high pick in 2019, it was a deal that we felt comfortable in making” stated General Manager Terry James.