- Earlier this week, Mattias Persson of HockeyNews.se reported that HV71 of the SHL was trying to add Lightning goaltender Matt Tomkins for the remainder of the season. With Tampa Bay recently converting Brandon Halverson to an NHL deal, Tomkins is effectively down to fourth-string status and he did spend two years in Sweden recently so the move wouldn’t have been entirely shocking. However, it appears the efforts to get Tomkins out of his NHL deal before today’s international transfer deadline were unsuccessful as Varmlands Folkblad’s Johan Ekberg reports (Twitter link) that the netminder has declined HV71’s offer and will remain in North America for the rest of the season. The 30-year-old has a 2.66 GAA and a .905 SV% in 21 games with AHL Syracuse.