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.
GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
82 | 52 | 24 | 6 | 110 | |
82 | 47 | 20 | 15 | 109 | |
82 | 46 | 26 | 10 | 102 | |
82 | 45 | 29 | 8 | 98 | |
82 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 91 | |
82 | 39 | 37 | 6 | 84 | |
82 | 37 | 41 | 4 | 78 | |
82 | 30 | 36 | 16 | 76 |