Waltteri Merelä signs a one-year contract with National League club SC Bern.

Waltteri Merelä will not return to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

After one season with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, Waltteri Merelä has signed a one-year contract with National League club SC Bern.

Last season, Merelä had one goal in 19 games with Tampa Bay and 34 points in 55 regular-season games with Syracuse. He scored three goals in eight AHL playoff games with the Crunch. 

Merelä made the Lightning roster out of training camp and was later sent down to Syracuse to help him adjust and build confidence in a new league. He was called back up in January and scored a goal in his first game back at Amalie Arena against the Minnesota Wild.