Next season, forward Waltteri Merela has decided to play for SC Bern in Switzerland’s top professional league rather than rejoining the Lightning. With a one-year, two-way deal inked by the organization, the 25-year-old Finn impressed the Lightning during the previous preseason, earning a spot on the opening night roster right out of training camp for his first taste of hockey in North America.
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And despite their desire for roster flexibility and their salary limit pressure, the Lightning were eventually unable to grant Merela the one-way agreement that would have allowed him to receive guaranteed NHL money abroad. Instead, Merela was allowed to return to the team as a crucial depth component. As the lone forward on the squad exempt from waivers, Merela participated in 10 of the Lightning’s first 11 games without recording a point. During a two-week period in November, he found himself traveling back and forth between Tampa Bay and AHL Syracuse twice. Despite having just one goal in 19 games at the end of the season, his size (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) allowed him to demonstrate his ability to skate and play responsible hockey in the NHL. The Lightning thought he would soon be a regular in the NHL.
Merela played most of the previous season in Syracuse, where he finished tied for third on the team with 35 points from 55 regular-season games, with 15 goals and 34 assists. In eight Calder Cup playoff games, he finished strong with three goals, including two game-winners. Merela was a restricted free agent this offseason who was eligible for arbitration because he signed his entry-level contract at the age of 25, therefore the Lightning had to extend a qualifying offer to him in order to keep him. And the Lightning want to do so in order to retain Merela’s NHL rights until he turns 27 before this year’s qualifying offer deadline on July 1. He has a one-season contract with SC Bern.
During training camp, Merela surprised everyone by showing that he could swiftly adapt to the faster pace and smaller rink size of the North American game. He played for four seasons in Finland before joining the Lightning, where he won back-to-back titles in the elite Liiga. His competitive nature was evident from the moment he put on a Lightning jersey at the team’s developmental camp in July of last year.
Before the 2018–19 season, Stacy Roest, general manager of AHL Syracuse and assistant general manager of the Lightning, stated, “We watched a lot of video, watched a lot of live games (when scouting Merela).” “And simply from his straight-line hockey style, he’s won a lot and plays hard. He can shoot the puck exceptionally well and is large and muscular. Due to his two-way contract, Merela only received a prorated share of his $82,000 minor-league salary for games he played for Syracuse; however, he did receive a prorated share of his $775,000 base salary for NHL games (plus a $95,000 signing bonus). It is thought that he will earn significantly more at SC Bern, however the specifics of his agreement were not made public.
