The Hamilton Hammers are making sure their crease has some heft before their inaugural season even begins.
According to Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey, the Islanders’ AHL club has agreed to terms with Ryan Fanti on an American Hockey League contract for the 2026-27 season. The 25-year-old arrives with a track record that suggests he can handle a real workload at this level.
Fanti spent last season with the Syracuse Crunch, where he played in 27 games and went 13-12-1 with a 2.41 goals-against average, a .905 save percentage and two shutouts. That was the biggest professional workload of his career, and it helped cement him as a dependable AHL option.
His pro résumé now includes 43 AHL games split between Bakersfield and Syracuse, with a 17-18-2 record, a 2.56 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. He has also spent plenty of time in the ECHL, where he owns a 42-35-6 record with the Fort Wayne Komets and Orlando Solar Bears.
Before turning pro, Fanti built his reputation at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Over 57 games there, he put together a 31-19-6 record and finished his college career with a .921 save percentage, a 2.02 goals-against average and seven shutouts.
His postseason numbers are strong, too. In 10 Kelly Cup Playoff appearances, Fanti posted a 1.61 goals-against average, a .950 save percentage and two shutouts.
And with the Komets, he also delivered a couple of moments that stood out for reasons beyond stopping the puck: he scored a goal and got into a goalie fight, where he threw down and pummeling his opponent.
In Other News...
Islanders Fans Wont Love What The New Schedule Just Set Up
The NHL has rolled out its full schedule for all 32 teams, and the Islanders now know the shape of their season from the opener onward. Theyll begin against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sept. 29, and like several other clubs, they also have to work around a slate designed in part with European viewers in mind, including a pair of league games overseas in Helsinki and Dusseldorf.
For Islanders fans, the less appealing part is the number of weekday afternoon starts built into the calendar. There are five of them, all before 5 p.m., which means a handful of home and road dates will land squarely in the middle of the workday rather than in the usual evening window. The full list includes a few notable opponents and stretches that could make those games easy to miss unless youre checking the schedule closely. [Read more 🡒]