The Lightning are going to miss Nick Paul.
The Tampa Bay Lightning made multiple moves this off-season. Among them was trading Nick Paul to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Lightning did good with this trade, as they brought in promising goalie prospect Dennis Hildeby and two draft picks. Although this is the case, they will also miss Paul in their lineup.
Paul was a very effective Swiss Army knife player for the Lightning. This is because he worked in all situations and could play multiple forward positions. He also provided the Lightning with solid secondary offensive production when playing at his best and was a good leader in their room. These elements of his game will make him missed on the Lightning's roster.
The Lightning still have a solid looking forward group heading into the 2026-27 season, but they are going to need to find a player who can replace all that Paul provided. It will be interesting to see who ends up taking over Paul's former role for Tampa Bay from here.
Paul appeared in 310 games over five seasons with the Lightning, where he recorded 75 goals, 73 assists, 148 points, and 395 hits.
