2. Nick Paul – 25 years old – C/LW
2020-21 stats – 21 GP – 3 G – 5 A – 8 PTS – 52.9 CF%
Career stats – 133 GP – 16 G – 20 A – 36 PTS – 48.9 CF%
Although there may be better options on American teams for the Toronto Maple Leafs to go out and acquire someone before or even at the trade deadline this year, there are still some relatively good options for them to at least think about if they want to stick to the Canadian teams and don’t want to go through the quarantine period, and Nick Paul is one of them.
Nick Paul is kind of an intriguing player to me because he’s a guy who has always been in and out of the Ottawa Senators lineup throughout the years he’s been there and just recently has found a spot on that team and been helping that very young team out.
I wouldn’t expect Paul to become a top-six player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but if they shift a guy like Alex Kerfoot to the second-line permanently and keep Zach Hyman on that third-line to act as a shutdown line, then adding Nick Paul to that third-line isn’t such a bad idea.
He isn’t an expensive player to try and trade for as he is currently on the first year of a two-year contract that has an AAV of $1.35M, the only thing I wonder is if Ottawa sees Paul as part of their future alongside their other young guys like Tkachuk, Batherson, Stutzle, etc. If not then I think acquiring a guy like him would add good depth to a team that is currently testing their depth as of right now due to multiple injuries across the lineup.
Paul has only played in 132 career games across a six-year span and hasn’t really been known as a guy that will put up a ton of points every year, however, he is still someone who plays a good defensive game and isn’t looked at as a liability whenever he is on the ice. If the Toronto Maple Leafs can acquire him for a player/prospect and a pick, I think that would be fair.