The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed netminder Matt Tomkins to a two-year, two-way contract for next season, according to a team announcement.
For Tomkins, 28, this signing serves as his return ticket to North American professional hockey after two seasons spent abroad in Sweden’s SHL. Tomkins was a 2012 seventh-round pick who spent four seasons with Ohio State in the NCAA. After his collegiate career concluded, he spent two seasons with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL, turning in some decent performances that won him ECHL Goaltender of the Week honors four times as well the right to play eight AHL games with the Rockford IceHogs.
That run as a starter in the ECHL earned Tomkins the chance to be the IceHogs’ third goalie in 2019-20, and he ended up playing in 13 games and posting an .896 save percentage. The following year, the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the AHL’s season and Tomkins ended up the only IceHogs goalie to play in double-digit games, producing a .907 save percentage in 15 games. It was after that season that Tomkins chose to sign overseas, and he earned a role as the starting goalie for Froluda HC in the SHL.
His success with Frolunda (.908 save percentage in 33 games) established him in the SHL and got him a contract with Farjestad BK, the defending champions. It also earned him the chance to start for Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. This past season, Tomkins was Farjestad’s starter and went 20-12 with a .911 save percentage.
The Lightning only have two goalies under contract for next season, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Hugo Alnefelt. Since Alnefelt, 21, may still need some more time to develop with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning may have a need for a backup netminder, as current backup Brian Elliott, 38, could retire. It’s unlikely the Lightning have signed Tomkins with the intention of him ending up Vasilevskiy’s backup, though.
Instead, Tomkins could be the replacement for pending unrestricted free agent Maxime Legace as the veteran partner for Alnefelt in Syracuse. Legace endured a difficult season with the Crunch, producing a dismal .888 save percentage in 41 games played.
This signing of Tomkins could very well be the team acting quickly to replace Legace in Syracuse, though it is also possible, if unlikely, that Legace is re-signed and one member of the trio sees time in the ECHL.