The Oilers sign goaltender Ryan Fanti to a two-year, entry-level contract
By Cam Lewis
2 years agoKen Holland has found a goaltender!
The Edmonton Oilers announced on Monday that the team has signed Ryan Fanti to a two-year, entry-level contract. He’ll join the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL on an amateur tryout as his contract with the Oilers doesn’t begin until next season.
Fanti put together an excellent sophomore season at the University of Minnesota Duluth this year. In 37 games, the native of Thunder Bay, Ontario posted a sparkling 0.929 save percentage, which ranked 10th among all goaltenders in the NCAA.
His season wrapped up this past Saturday as Minnesota-Duluth got dropped by Carter Savoie and the University of Denver in the regional NCAA finals. Denver advanced to the Frozen Four, where they’ll take on the University of Michigan in the semi-finals.
Over at College Hockey News, Jordan McAlpine wrote that Fanti deserved to win NCHC Goaltender of the Year for his play on an inconsistent Minnesota-Duluth squad…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — If there was any doubt Ryan Fanti deserved the title of NCHC Goaltender of the Year, the junior silenced that this weekend.First, Fanti, who entered the NCHC Frozen Faceoff with a .921 save percentage and 1.97 goals-against average, shut out the nation’s highest-scoring offense on Friday. Fanti made 30 saves in that win and became the first opposing goaltender to blank Denver this season.However, the Ontario native saved his best work for Saturday night’s championship game at Xcel Energy Center. Fanti turned aside all 25 shots Western Michigan fired his way and guided the Bulldogs to their third Frozen Faceoff title in the last five years.After not giving up a goal against two of the top four scoring teams in the country, Fanti was a unanimous selection as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.“I think his game speaks for itself,” said UMD defenseman Wyatt Kaiser. “Honestly there’s not a lot to say. You watch him out there and he’s big saves. He’s making saves he shouldn’t, playing the puck and he’s doing everything for us.”
Fanti is an interesting addition to an already-crowded goalie situation in Edmonton’s system. The team has Stuart Skinner pushing for an NHL gig and a pair of other prospects in Ilya Konovalov and Olivier Rodrigue who are also in the mix. Konovalov has been splitting the net with Skinner in Bakersfield for most of the year while Rodrigue has gone back and forth between the AHL and ECHL.
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