The Tampa Bay Lightning liked what they saw enough from a collegiate player so much that they swung a trade for him.
Forward Lucas Mercuri has been acquired by the Lightning in a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, with a 2025 sixth-round pick going back the other way, the team announced.
Additionally, the Lightning have signed Mercuri to a two-year, entry-level contract beginning in the 2025-26 season. He'll report to the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch for the remainder of the 2024-25 season on an AHL tryout.
He can't play with the Lightning this season because the trade was made after the NHL's trade deadline.
Mercuri recently finished his collegiate season playing at the University of Massachusetts. He logged 10 goals and 21 assists in 40 games for the Minutemen this past season while serving as an alternate captain for the team.
The 23-year-old has spent the last four years playing for UMass, tallying 28 goals and 57 assists in that time.
The LaSalle, Que., native was selected by the Hurricanes in the sixth round, 159th overall, at the 2020 NHL Draft.
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