Report: Flames have permission to talk to Bishop, also pursuing Elliott

The Calgary Flames appear to be making progress in their search for a new goaltender.

The club has talked to the St. Louis Blues about acquiring Brian Elliott, and the Flames have also gained permission to speak to the Tampa Bay Lightning about Ben Bishop, reports TSN's Bob McKenzie.

Bishop carries a cap hit of $5.95 million next season before potentially becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Elliott is on the books for a much more affordable $2.5 million in 2016-17, and he too is a pending UFA after next season.

The Flames are also looking at a certain Detroit Red Wings netminder.

Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reported Thursday night that teams hadn't yet received permission to talk to Bishop about signing a contract extension - which would presumably be a prerequisite to a trade - but the Flames appear to be the first team granted the opportunity.

Bishop was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy this season. He went 35-21-4 with a 2.06 GAA and .926 save percentage in 61 games.

Elliott split time with Jake Allen and went 23-8-6 with a 2.07 GAA and .930 save percentage in 42 regular-season contests for the Blues in 2015-16.

Howard, who lost his starting job to Petr Mrazek this season, is under contract for three more years at a cap hit of $5.29 million.