Headlines

  • Sabres, Mammoth Elect Salary Arbitration With Bowen Byram, Jack McBain
  • Players Still Eligible For Offer Sheets
  • Eleven Players Elect Salary Arbitration
  • Lyndon Byers Passes Away At 61
  • Blue Jackets Re-Sign Dmitri Voronkov
  • Mammoth Begin Extension Talks With Logan Cooley
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Lightning Place Andrei Vasilevskiy On LTIR, Recall Waltteri Merelä

October 10, 2023 at 11:33 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The Tampa Bay Lightning officially placed goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy on LTIR today as he recovers from back surgery, per CapFriendly. In a corresponding move, the team also brought forward Waltteri Merelä back up from AHL Syracuse, and he could make his NHL debut in a few hours against the Nashville Predators. Merelä was sent down temporarily yesterday to help the Lightning optimize their LTIR capture before opening-night rosters were due, which they did to the tune of $2.

Vasilevskiy underwent surgery late last month and was given an eight-to-ten-week timeline for recovery. That puts him well within the bounds of LTIR, which requires a player to miss at least ten games and 24 days. That means Vasilevskiy won’t return until next month at the absolute earliest, although an early December return is much more likely. The all-world netminder started 60 games for the Lightning last season, going 34-22-4 with a .915 save percentage and 2.65 goals-against average. Those were, unbelievably, his worst numbers since becoming the Lightning’s starter in 2016. Since the Lightning did not make any waiver claims over the past few days, Vasilevskiy’s absence leaves 28-year-old Jonas Johansson, with just 35 NHL appearances under his belt, as their starter for the next two months.

The Lightning signed Merelä, 25, to a one-year, two-way contract worth $870K this summer. Undrafted, the 6-foot-2 right wing has enjoyed back-to-back strong seasons with Liiga’s Tappara and made one appearance for Finland at the 2023 World Championship, scoring a goal. After a strong camp, Merelä was not technically on the team’s opening-night roster but was expected to suit up in today’s game regardless. The pending restricted free agent does not require waivers to go to AHL Syracuse, where he could find himself later on in the season if he can’t hold onto a roster spot.

With Vasilevskiy on LTIR and Merelä recalled the Lightning have $8.55MM remaining in their LTIR salary pool, per CapFriendly. While that’s a lot of flexibility, they won’t be able to take advantage of it for any significant amount of time. The Lightning will need to shed $950K in salary to activate Vasilevskiy when healthy.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Tampa Bay Lightning| Transactions Andrei Vasilevskiy| Waltteri Merelä

Penguins’ Jake Guentzel Will Play In Season Opener
Main
Avalanche Acquire Caleb Jones From Hurricanes
View Comments (2)

Comments

  1. trptyk

    2 years ago

    love what I’ve seen from merela in the preseason , big body , great hustle. think he could be a lock this season if he starts strong. 13-15 goals from the kid would be amazing.

    Reply
  2. unknowneric

    2 years ago

    “which they did to the tune of $2” They needed that $2 to pay the paperboy.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

  • Top Stories
  • Recent

Sabres, Mammoth Elect Salary Arbitration With Bowen Byram, Jack McBain

Players Still Eligible For Offer Sheets

Eleven Players Elect Salary Arbitration

Lyndon Byers Passes Away At 61

Blue Jackets Re-Sign Dmitri Voronkov

Mammoth Begin Extension Talks With Logan Cooley

Blues Pushing For Bowen Byram Trade

Hurricanes Sign Nikolaj Ehlers To Six-Year Deal

Sharks Sign Dmitry Orlov, Claim Nick Leddy

Islanders Sign Maxim Shabanov

Blues Re-Sign Vadim Zherenko And Hunter Skinner

Rangers Re-Sign Brendan Brisson

Metropolitan Notes: Vladar, Barkey, Penguins, Ilyin

Sabres, Mammoth Elect Salary Arbitration With Bowen Byram, Jack McBain

Maple Leafs Interested In Jack Roslovic

Players Signed To AHL Contracts For 2025-26

Golden Knights Re-Sign Raphael Lavoie, Jonas Rondbjerg, Cole Schwindt

Senators Have Quietly Had A Good Summer

Islanders Re-Sign Marc Gatcomb

Players Still Eligible For Offer Sheets

Rumors By Team

Rumors By Team

  • Avalanche Rumors
  • Blackhawks Rumors
  • Blue Jackets Rumors
  • Blues Rumors
  • Bruins Rumors
  • Canadiens Rumors
  • Canucks Rumors
  • Capitals Rumors
  • Devils Rumors
  • Ducks Rumors
  • Flames Rumors
  • Flyers Rumors
  • Golden Knights Rumors
  • Hurricanes Rumors
  • Islanders Rumors
  • Jets Rumors
  • Kings Rumors
  • Kraken Rumors
  • Lightning Rumors
  • Mammoth Rumors
  • Maple Leafs Rumors
  • Oilers Rumors
  • Panthers Rumors
  • Penguins Rumors
  • Predators Rumors
  • Rangers Rumors
  • Red Wings Rumors
  • Sabres Rumors
  • Senators Rumors
  • Sharks Rumors
  • Stars Rumors
  • Wild Rumors

Latest Rumors & News

Latest Rumors & News

  • 2025’s Top 50 Unrestricted Free Agents
  • Sam Bennett Rumors
  • Nikolaj Ehlers Rumors
  • Mitch Marner Rumors
  • Marco Rossi Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors Features

Pro Hockey Rumors Features

  • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
  • 2025 Free Agent Focus Series
  • 2025 Offseason Checklist Series
  • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
  • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
  • Active Roster Tracker
  • Coaching Staff Directory
  • Draft Pick Tracker 2025
  • Key Offseason Dates
  • Offseason Trade Tracker
  • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
  • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls
  • Waiver Claims 2024-25

 

 

 

Navigation

  • Sitemap
  • Archives

PHR Info

  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Commenting Policy

Connect

  • Contact Us
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top

Register

Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version