It appears the Tampa Bay Lightning are set at goaltending prior to the 2025 NHL Free Agency Fest. Overshadowed by the Yanni Gourde signing, a report has emerged that the team quietly signed goaltender Ryan Fanti to a one-year, two-contract. According to PuckPedia (the team has not confirmed the signing yet) the deal pays the netminder $775,000 at the NHL level and $80,000 for the AHL and ECHL.
It’s been a bit of a journey for the 25-year-old goaltender. He went undrafted after a solid college career at the University of Minnesota-Duluth which included a NCHC championship in 2021-22 where he was named the tournament’s MVP. The Edmonton Oilers signed him as a free agent and he appeared in one game for Bakersfield that season.
He bounced between Bakersfield and Fort Wayne over the next couple of year before Edmonton decided not to tender him a contract. As a free agent he signed a one-year deal with the Syracuse Crunch. He spent most of the season with Orlando, posting an 18-13-5 record with a 2.71 GAA and .907 SV%. Fanti also appeared in four playoff games with a 2.08 GAA and .935 SV%.
Throughout the season he had a couple of call-ups to Syracuse and played well, posting a 3-1 record with a 1.45 GAA and a .946 SV%. Next season he’s likely to have a shot at backing up Brandon Halverson in Syracuse based on his AHL play last season. He’ll be challenging rookie Harrison Menaghin for the role, but his signing does give the organization the flexibility to send Menaghin to Orlando if he doesn’t beat Fanti out for the spot. Since this would not be an entry-level deal, Fanti would have to consent to being assigned to the ECHL.
With the signing, the organization’s depth chart looks something like this:
NHL – Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jonas Johansson
AHL – Brandon Halverson and Harrison Menaghin/Ryan Fanti
ECHL – Menaghin/Fanti and an ECHL guy
