Lightning Reassign Brandon Halverson, Recall Harrison Meneghin

The Lightning have reassigned goaltender Brandon Halverson to AHL Syracuse, per a team announcement Thursday. They recalled goaltender Harrison Meneghin from Syracuse in his place to serve as their third-stringer/emergency backup during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Syracuse had wrapped up a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs a while ago, so having their #1 option in Halverson up with the Lightning wasn’t much of a problem. As the second-place team in the North Division, they earned a bye through the first round as well, so they’ve been off for a bit.

Their best-of-five North Division Semifinal series against Cleveland starts tomorrow night, though. They’ll get Halverson back down there to start after spending much of the last couple of weeks up on the NHL roster, giving their minor-league affiliate the best chance at a lengthy playoff run.

Halverson was initially brought up before the end of the regular season. He started Tampa’s regular-season finale against the Rangers, allowing four goals on 21 shots for a .810 SV% in a loss, while backup Jonas Johansson was sidelined with an undisclosed injury and workhorse starter Andrei Vasilevskiy got the night off.

Johansson has returned to back up Vasilevskiy through Games 1 and 2 of their first-round series against the Canadiens. Still, teams are required to roster a third goaltender at all times during the postseason who can function similarly to a regular-season EBUG. They’re permitted to enter the game, even if they’re not dressed, in the event both the starting and backup goaltender are forced out of the contest, to avoid a situation in which a Scott Foster or David Ayres-type ever sees playoff action.

Halverson is in his third season in the Bolts organization as an AHL option, breaking out as their clear-cut #3 last season. The 30-year-old only has four career NHL appearances to his name, two of which came this year. His 43 games for Syracuse this season ranked seventh in the AHL, though, accompanied by a decent .905 SV%, 2.42 GAA, and a 24-11-10 record with a league-leading six shutouts.

Meneghin is certainly less appealing as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option, at least at present, but he’s spent virtually the entire season down with ECHL Orlando and wasn’t going to see AHL playoff action anyway. Tampa selected the 21-year-old in the seventh round in 2024.

The 6’4″ netminder had put together some impressive seasons in junior hockey, including a WHL title and playoff MVP honors with Medicine Hat just last season. His stellar .919 SV% in 53 games for Lethbridge in 2023-24 is what led to his selection as an overager after going undrafted in both 2022 and 2023.

However, his first professional season has been a struggle. He only made 14 appearances for Orlando this season and wasn’t good, logging a .889 SV% and 3.26 GAA with a 4-9-0 record. His lone relief appearance for Syracuse, which came last Friday, saw him allow two goals on four shots for a .500 SV% and 9.33 GAA.

Meneghin remains under contract through 2027-28 and is the only depth netminder Tampa has signed through next season. They’ll be looking for him to return with a strong training camp and compete for AHL backup duties in the fall.