Prior to their win against the Los Angeles Kings, the Tampa Bay Lightning made a roster move as they recalled Matt Tomkins from the Syracuse Crunch. They also announced that Jonas Johansson was day-to-day with an undisclosed lower-body injury.
Roster move: #GoBoltsĀ have recalled G Matt Tomkins from AHL Syracuse. Tomkins is 6-8-3 with a .900 SV% with the Crunch this season.
— Benjamin Pierce (@boltsben.bsky.social) January 30, 2025 at 12:16 PM
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It’s been an up-and-down season for Tomkins in Syracuse this season as he is 6-8-3 with a .900 SV% and 2.53 GAA, but has ceded the starter’s role to Brandon Halverson who is having an all-star season for the Crunch. Tomkins has one shutout on the season, a 25-save performance against Utica on November 16th.
Tomkins had a couple of tours of duty with the Lightning last season as he started as the back-up when Andrei Vasilevskiy was recovering from season-opening back surgery, and then finished the season with the team after Johansson injured his quad. Overall he appeared in six games and posted a 3-2-1 record with an .892 SV% and 3.33 GAA.
Checking the schedule, the Lightning have five games remaining before the tournament break, with one back-to-back. Chances are Vasilevskiy will get most of the starts, especially considering all of the games are against teams bunched around the Bolts in the standings. There is one back-to-back just prior to the break that could see Tomkins get the call if JoJo isn’t ready to go by then.
So, if Halverson is playing at an all-star level, why wasn’t he recalled instead of Tomkins? Simply put, because he doesn’t have a NHL contract. The former New York Rangers second-round pick signed a two-year, AHL deal with Syracuse in October of 2023 after getting recalled on a PTO from the Orlando Solar Bears. There was some speculation that, based on his play over the past two seasons, he might earn a NHL-level deal, especially with the lack of goaltenders currently in the system, but that hasn’t happened quite yet for the 28-year-old.