Waltteri Merelä (born 6 July 1998) is a Finnish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. He is currently playing for

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern ('' Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is a professional ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rin ...

of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL).

Playing career

Merelä made his

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

debut appearance for

Pelicans Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

during the 2018–19 season. In December 2021, he made his debut in the

Finland men's national ice hockey team The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, nicknamed ''Leijonat / Lejonen'' ("The Lions" in Finnish and Swedish), is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world an ...

. As an undrafted free agent, on 5 June 2023, Merelä left the SM-liiga after 5 seasons by signing a one-year, two-way contract with the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

. Merelä made the opening night roster to begin the season with the Lightning. He made 19 appearances with Tampa Bay over the course of the season, while also splitting the campaign with AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, posting 34 points through 54 regular season games. At the conclusion of the season, Merelä opted to leave the Lightning and returned to Europe in signing a one-year contract with Swiss club, SC Bern of the NL, on 10 June 2024.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1998 births Living people SC Bern players Lahti Pelicans players Finnish ice hockey forwards Peliitat Heinola players Ice hockey people from Ylöjärvi Syracuse Crunch players Tampa Bay Lightning players Tappara players Undrafted National Hockey League players 21st-century Finnish sportsmen {{Finland-icehockey-bio-stub