Former Tampa Bay Lightning prospect and Syracuse Crunch goaltender Ryan Fanti will have a new home for the 2026-27 season, as he's signed with the Hamilton Hammers. 

Fanti, 26, spent two seasons in the Lightning organization and split time between their American Hockey League affiliate, the Crunch, and their ECHL affiliate, the Orlando Solar Bears. Last season, he appeared in 27 games for Syracuse, back-stopping them to a 13-12-1 record while recording a 2.41 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. 

Fanti, a native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, will be returning to his home province for the first time in his professional career, although he'll be nearly 900 miles from his hometown. The Hammers are entering their first season as a team, after they relocated to Hamilton from Bridgeport, Connecticut this summer.

Despite Fanti leaving the organization, the Crunch have plenty of options to replace him heading into the 2026-27 season as Olivier Rodrigue, Mads Sogaard, and Harrison Meneghin are all expected to play at the AHL, or even ECHL, level despite being on NHL contracts.