We’re finally getting around to reviewing the 2022-23 season. Instead of assigning grades or any of that nonsense, we’ll start by looking at the player’s best goal from the season and go from there. For some it’ll be easy, others have way more to choose from.
Player:
Nick Paul
Stat Line:
80 games played, 17 goals, 15 assists, 33 PIM, 120 shots, 10.57 iXG (5v5), 111 hits, 16:10 ice time
Playoffs – 6 games played, 1 goal, o assists, 2 PIM, 8 shots, 1.22 iXG (5v5), 20 hits, 16:37 ice time
Goal of the Year Video:
NHL.com
Goal of the year description:
There was a pretty nice selection of goals from Nick Paul to choose from, with a lot of them coming off of innocuous-looking wrist shots from high-danger areas. However, this one comes off the rush against Carolina and highlights a couple of underrated parts of Paul’s game.
We start the highlight in the Lightning zone where Haydn Fleury pitchforked a puck out to the blueline that is knocked down by Jalen Chatfield. Unfortunately for ‘Canes he swatted it a bit too far out of reach and Paul swooped in to pick up the puck in stride and bumped it up to Steven Stamkos.
As Stamkos curled into the offensive zone, Paul skated his way past Chatfield, showing a little more footspeed then some give him credit for, and slid in behind future teammate Calvin de Haan. He then used his body to shield off Chatfield as Stamkos slid the puck to the front of the net.
The second replay, the one from behind Stamkos, showed how nice of a play Paul made to get his stick to the ice and open the blade up just enough to slide it between the pads even through Chatfield was draped all over him.
How did 2022-23 go for them?
We kind of already covered this a bit prior to the playoffs when we assured you that Nick Paul is going to be okay. While he’s still riding a 26-game goalless streak in the regular season, he did find the back of the net against the Maple Leafs in the playoffs.
NHL.com
While it was a tale of two halves for him, overall, it was a typical Nick Paul year. The offense is fine, but he is solid on defense. He split his time between the second and third lines, killed some penalties, found himself on the power play, and pretty much did everything Coach Cooper asked him to do.
Offensively, he keeps the game pretty simple – get to the front of the net and deflect pucks home or swat at rebounds until they go into the back of the net. It’s a tough way to make a living, but it works for him.
Nick Paul isn’t a flashy player, but he usually ends up in the right place at the right time to do the right thing. He is a better skater than most give him credit for, his hunched-shoulder style of skating isn’t aesthetically pleasing, but it gets him where he needs to go. He is also able to play the physical game as well, whether it is battling in the corner for a puck or establishing position in front of the net.
In his own zone he is pretty good at going to get the puck and getting it out of the zone, usually by skating it out. It was kind of an odd year where he didn’t shoot the puck as much as he had in the past, but some of that could be that he spent the first portion of the season on a line with Steven Stamkos and it’s wise to defer to one of the best generational shooters in the game.
The offensive slump in the second half of the season really derailed what could have been a great season for Paul, bringing it down to just a good season. Still, despite the lack of finishing he was getting to dangerous areas and setting up chances for himself and his linemates.
2023-24 Contract Status:
Nick Paul will be entering into the second year of the seven-year contract he signed last summer. His cap hit $3.15 million with an actual salary of $4.15, almost half of which came via a signing bonus.
Do we expect them to score more or less next season?
I think he’s going to hover right around the same amount and finish somewhere in the 16-19 goal range, however, he is going to spread them out a little more over the season. One thing he will have to adjust to is new linemates. The two forwards he spent the most time on the ice, Ross Colton and Alex Killorn, will be suiting up out west next season.
Chances are that Paul will start out as the center for the third line with some sort of combination of Tanner Jeannot and Josh Archibald, two players that combined for 12 goals last year. Yeah, it would be nice if the Bolts could get a little more offense out of that trio in 2023-24.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if, like he did last season, he also bounces around a bit with some time on the second line as well as the fourth line when Coach Cooper wants to shake things up a bit. That’s part of the appeal of Paul, his versatility and ability to play up and down the line-up.
We pretty much know who Nick Paul is as a player. If he plays to that type next season, he’ll earn his contract.
