The Toronto Maple Leafs overhauled their roster, with a focus on the bottom-six.
Toronto is coming off a rather disappointing season, and the Maple Leafs went out and signed plenty of free agents and also traded for Nick Paul from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Paul will be an impact bottom-six forward for Toronto, but he is coming off the worst season of his career.
However, despite the bad year, NHL analyst David Morassutti of Sportsnet believes Paul could be a major surprise this season.
“Paul’s arrival in Toronto didn’t generate the same excitement as selecting Gavin McKenna first overall or bringing in Darren Raddysh and Sergei Bobrovsky, but trading for the Mississauga, Ont., native could be exactly the type of move the Maple Leafs needed. There is plenty of reason to believe he can be better than that. In each of his previous two full seasons with Tampa Bay, Paul topped 20 goals,” Morassutti wrote.
“More importantly, he brings a combination Toronto has been looking for: size, versatility, penalty-killing ability and playoff know-how. His Stanley Cup experience with the Lightning should also be valuable in a dressing room that continues to search for the right supporting cast around Auston Matthews and William Nylander. This isn’t about Paul suddenly becoming a 25-goal scorer. It’s about giving Toronto a dependable middle-six option who can be trusted in different situations.”
If Paul can be a dependable middle-six forward who can also play well in the defensive end, it will ease the load on Auston Matthews. Matthews became a defensive player last season, but Toronto needs him on the offensive end.
So, Paul, who’s in the fifth year of his seven-year, $22.05 million deal, will get to play for his hometown team and make an impact.
Paul Excited to Play for Maple Leafs
Although Paul was an impact player for the Lightning, Tampa Bay opted to go in a different direction.
The Lightning moved Paul to the Maple Leafs for goalie Dennis Hildeby, a fourth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, and a third-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft. After the trade, Paul shared his excitement to be dealt to his hometown team.
“A lot going on. I still don’t think I’ve had the time to process it,” Paul said. “Growing up in Mississauga and being a Leaf fan and all my friends being Leafs fans going to school, I think in an hour I had over 600 unread messages and calls so I’m completely overwhelmed with everything but that excitement of everyone being fired up that I’m back and me being back and then thinking about my childhood and going to games pretending to score goals with my Leafs jersey on, all of this in a short period of time, it hasn’t settled in yet but it’s just excitement.”
Paul recorded 7 goals and 8 assists for 15 points in 51 games last season. He also went pointless in the playoffs.
Toronto Felt Like Paul Filled a Need
New Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka knew he needed to improve the team’s bottom-six.
Toronto went out and traded for Paul, who’s a tough forward and someone who has plenty of playoff experience.
“Nick was a guy who, candidly, we weren’t sure was available. It is a good hockey trade. Julien BriseBois has a need and identified Dennis as a guy who can fill it,” Chayka said. “Obviously, with our setup, the reality…
“Academically, it makes sense to carry three goalies, and you can do that, but realistically and practically, it is hard. That is not ideal. If you can find a hockey trade that makes sense, that is what we were open to. The combination of Paul, what we think he can bring to the team, the type of player he is, the type of person — our room was really excited about the potential of that opportunity.”
Ultimately, Toronto was able to land Paul, who can be an impact player for the team.
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