• Saarela split the 2018-19 season between Lukko of the Finnish Elite League (2-8—10 in 24 GP) and their junior team (7-8—15 in 21 GP).

• Internationally, Saarela skated for Team Finland at the 2019 Under-18 World Championship (1-2—3 in 5 GP), the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2017 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge (2-2—4 in 5 GP).

• His brother, Aleksi Saarela, was selected 89th overall by the Rangers in the 2015 NHL Draft and is currently a member of the Hurricanes organization where he won the AHL’s Calder Cup championship with the Charlotte Checkers in 2018-19.

• His father, Pasi Saarela, played in the Finnish Elite League from 1990-91 to 2008-09, including two stints as captain of Lukko and back-to-back league championships with Jokerit in 1995-96 and 1996-97.

• Models his style of play after Maple Leafs forward John Tavares.