Fantasy faceoff: Ben Bishop vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy

All offseason long, NHL.com will cover all the angles leading up to your fantasy hockey draft. For some of the most compelling debates, our fantasy writers will compare two players at a given position in the same projected draft range, according to NHL.com's top 250 rankings.
Value is quantified based on factors including (but not limited to) line combinations, power-play usage, team goalie situations, injury history, bounce-back, breakout or sleeper potential, possible regression and age. Once each writer has made his argument, fans can cast their votes in our @NHLFantasy Twitter poll.
Today, we compare goaltenders Ben Bishop of the Dallas Stars and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning:

NOTE: Standard Yahoo categories include goals, assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes, power-play points and shots on goal for skaters, and wins, goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts for goalies.
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DAVID SATRIANO: Bishop's fantasy stock should rise greatly with the Stars. He played in 39 games (37 starts) last season with the Lightning and Los Angeles Kings, his fewest in a full NHL season since he played 10 games in 2011-12. He was 18-15-5 with a 2.54 GAA, .910 save percentage and one shutout, and was hampered by a lower-body injury that caused him to miss three weeks from Dec. 21-Jan. 11.
Bishop was traded to the Stars by the Kings on May 9 and signed a six-year, $29.5 million contract. Dallas ranked 29th in the NHL in goals-allowed per game (3.17) and 30th in save percentage (.893) last season with Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi, numbers which should improve with Bishop. He started at least 60 games for three straight seasons and had at least 35 wins and four shutouts prior to this season, and since 2013-14 ranks fourth in wins (130), sixth in GAA (2.25) and 12th in SV% (.920) among goalies who have made at least 50 starts. In 270 games, Bishop has a 2.32 GAA, .919 save percentage and 19 shutouts and was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2013-14 and 2015-16.
Bishop is in a better situation in Dallas than he was in Tampa Bay or Los Angeles. He's surrounded by a better offense than Vasilevskiy is. The Stars scored an NHL-high 3.23 goals per game two seasons ago with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin leading the way, and they added Alexander Radulov this offseason.

BEN ZWEIMAN: Vasilevskiy went 23-17-7 with a 2.61 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and two shutouts in 50 games (47 starts) last season. He set NHL career highs in wins, save percentage, shutouts and games played, mostly because it was his first full season in the League. Vasilevskiy was splitting time prior to Bishop being traded to the Kings on Feb. 26. After that, the 22-year-old was 12-4-2 with a 2.27 GAA and .929 SV% in 18 starts. Vasilevskiy's up and down season was good enough to place him 28th among goalies in Yahoo's standard-based rankings, 22 spots ahead of Bishop. Vasilevskiy will be the No. 1 goalie on a team loaded with talent, and should everything go right for him and the Lightning, he could finish among the top 10 goalies in fantasy.

Many picked Tampa Bay to win the Stanley Cup heading into last season, but with injuries to Bishop, captain Steven Stamkos, and forwards Ryan Callahan and Tyler Johnson, the Lightning didn't make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their busy offseason was highlighted by the trade of forward Jonathan Drouin to the Montreal Canadiens. Johnson and Ondrej Palat each signed a long-term contract, and left wing Chris Kunitz and defenseman Dan Girardi were signed as free agents. Along with right wing Nikita Kucherov and defensemen Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman, the Lightning have as deep a roster as any in the NHL. Because of that, Vasilevskiy has an outside shot of duplicating Bishop's production from 2013-14 to 2015-16, which included a SV% higher than .916 and a GAA lower than 2.32.

Bishop will turn 31 on Nov. 21 and has dealt with a lower-body injury in each of the past two seasons. Lehtonen and Niemi each had a statistically poor season, but neither got much help from the Dallas defense. The additions of defenseman Marc Methot and center Martin Hanzal should cover up some deficiencies, but if you think the Stars will be that much better than their 3.17 goals allowed per game, think again. It would also appear that the Stars' roster is stacked, but the Lightning's is superior and plays in arguably the easiest division (Atlantic) in the NHL. Vasilevskiy is the safer choice, albeit with less of a track record.