The Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL have acquired forward Lucas Mercuri from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft. The Lightning were impressed by Mercuri`s performance in college hockey.
Tampa Bay has also signed Mercuri to a two-year entry-level contract, starting in the 2025-2026 season. Until the end of the current 2024-2025 season, Mercuri will play for the Lightning`s AHL farm team, the Syracuse Crunch, on a tryout contract.
Mercuri is ineligible to play for Tampa Bay this season because the trade occurred after the NHL trade deadline.
In the past season at the University of Massachusetts, Mercuri, serving as an alternate captain, scored 10 goals and provided 21 assists in 40 games.
The 23-year-old Mercuri spent four years with UMass, scoring 28 goals and making 57 assists during that time.
A native of LaSalle, Quebec, Mercuri was selected by the Hurricanes in the sixth round of the 2020 NHL Draft with the 159th overall pick.
Tristan Blackwood