Report: Waltteri Merela signs in Swiss league

Another European player chose to leave the Tampa Bay Lightning organization to return to play in Europe as SC Bern announced that they had signed forward Waltteri Merela to a contract for the 2024-25 season. The 25-year-old Merela was scheduled to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, but appears to have chosen the stability of playing in the top tier of the Swiss hockey system in lieu of potentially shuttling back-and-forth between Tampa and Syracuse next season. Merela was signed by Julien BriseBois just over a year ago after helping his Finnish team, Tappara, win back-to-back championships in the Liiga. Undrafted by teams in the NHL, Merela had carved out a pretty solid career in his native Finland as a 30-ish point player with a physical game.