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Nick Paul

#20 · Left wing · Toronto Maple Leafs

Born Mar 20, 1995 in Mississauga, Ontario, CAN (age 31) · 6'3", 225 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 101st overall in 2013 by DAL (round 4)

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2015-16. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Connor Brickley FLA · 5 P in 23 GP Dave Bolland FLA · 5 P in 25 GP Mike Blunden TBL · 5 P in 20 GP Rocco Grimaldi FLA · 5 P in 20 GP Mason Raymond CGY · 5 P in 29 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

0102030402015-16: 5 points515-162016-17: 0 points016-172017-18: 1 points117-182018-19: 2 points218-192019-20: 20 points2019-202020-21: 20 points2020-212021-22: 32 points3221-222022-23: 32 points3222-232023-24: 46 points4623-242024-25: 41 points4124-252025-26: 15 points1525-262026-27: 2 points226-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2015-16 OTT 24 2 3 5 -3 6 28 43 0.21 $670K
2016-17 OTT 1 0 0 0 -2 0 4 3 0.00 $670K
2017-18 OTT 11 1 0 1 -4 0 11 16 0.09 $670K
2018-19 OTT 20 1 1 2 -10 4 30 28 0.10 $650K
2019-20 OTT 56 9 11 20 0 24 103 122 0.36 $750K
2020-21 OTT 56 5 15 20 5 19 105 74 0.36 $1.35M
2021-22 OTT 59 11 7 18 -18 22 131 67 0.31 $1.35M
2021-22 TBL 21 5 9 14 4 17 35 39 0.67
2022-23 TBL 80 17 15 32 11 33 120 111 0.40 $3.15M
2023-24 TBL 82 24 22 46 -16 27 153 104 0.56 $3.15M
2024-25 TBL 76 22 19 41 13 30 141 66 0.54 $3.15M
2025-26 TBL 51 7 8 15 -15 32 68 75 0.29 $3.15M
2026-27 TOR 5 1 1 2 -3 4 7 9 0.40 $3.15M
12 seasons Career 542 105 111 216 -38 218 936 757 0.40

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2021-22 TBL 23 5 4 9 0 6 44 56 0.39
2022-23 TBL 6 1 0 1 -1 2 8 20 0.17
2023-24 TBL 5 2 0 2 -4 6 14 16 0.40
2024-25 TBL 5 2 0 2 -4 2 12 18 0.40
2025-26 TBL 6 0 0 0 -2 4 7 21 0.00
5 seasons Playoffs 45 10 4 14 -11 20 85 131 0.31

2015-16 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
24 2 3 5 -3 6 28 43 0.21 7.1 12:12

Contract

$670KCap hitends in 2018, then RFA
$134KCap dollars per point5 points in 24 games
$655KCap dollars per goal above replacement1.0 goals above replacement
$1.2MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$539KValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 668 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Ottawa Senators on Dec 21, 2014, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $2.683M, beginning in 2015-16. It runs through 2017-18, with 2 seasons left after this one, and he is then a restricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2015-16 $670K $575K $93K $258K $668K
2016-17 $670K $600K $93K $233K $693K
2017-18 $670K $650K $0 $183K $650K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 1, 2022 Tampa Bay Lightning Extension 2022-23 to 2028-29 7 $22.05M $3.15M
Oct 14, 2020 Ottawa Senators New contract 2020-21 to 2021-22 2 $2.7M $1.35M
Jul 2, 2019 Ottawa Senators New contract 2019-20 to 2019-20 1 $750K $750K
Jul 16, 2018 Ottawa Senators New contract 2018-19 to 2018-19 1 $650K $650K
Dec 21, 2014 Ottawa Senators Entry-level 2015-16 to 2017-18 signed for 2014-15, slid 3 $2.683M $670K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2015-16 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2015-16 analytics

Rating

+1.0Goals above replacement437th of 675 skaters, 301st of 445 forwards
+0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+0.2Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 445 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence-0.4 45th percentileEven-strength defence+0.6 64th percentilePower play-0.1 53rd percentilePenalty kill-0.1 23rd percentilePenalties+0.2 49th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Provisional: under 40 games it is more chance than player. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-202462015-162017-182019-202021-222023-242025-26Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

46.0Corsi for %220 attempts for, 258 against
-1.9CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
49.1Expected goals for %9.7 expected for, 10.0 against
+2.9xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
47.5Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
44.4Goals for %8 for, 10 against
99.7PDO6.9% shooting + 92.8% saves
51Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Chris Neil · Nick Paul · Curtis Lazar1590:1451.762.52-2
Alex Chiasson · Nick Paul · Curtis Lazar1338:4750.848.51-1
Matt Puempel · Nick Paul · Curtis Lazar519:1241.237.20-2
Alex Chiasson · Mika Zibanejad · Nick Paul614:1563.057.20-0

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

2Goalsnot counting empty-netters
2.5Expected goalsfrom 39 unblocked attempts
-0.5Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.51 expected goals per 60 minutes19th
Shot quality 6.4% chance per attempt21st
Finishing -0.5 goals above expected52ndOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 412 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.511.52Game 20Expected 2.5Goals 2

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 9, 2016 @ BOS W 6-1 0 1 1 0 0 2 3 14:02
Apr 7, 2016 vs FLA W 3-1 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 15:24
Apr 5, 2016 vs PIT L 3-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 3 12:42
Apr 2, 2016 @ PHI L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 13:51
Mar 31, 2016 @ MIN W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 13:11
Mar 30, 2016 @ WPG W 2-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 11:31
Mar 26, 2016 vs ANA L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 12:15
Mar 23, 2016 @ NYI L 1-3 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1 07:59
Mar 22, 2016 vs WSH L 2-4 0 0 0 -1 0 3 2 14:12
Mar 19, 2016 vs MTL W 5-0 0 0 0 0 2 1 5 13:56
Mar 18, 2016 @ BUF L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 13:17
Mar 15, 2016 vs MIN W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 11:45
Mar 12, 2016 vs TOR W 4-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 13:23
Mar 8, 2016 @ CAR L 3-4 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 11:39
Mar 6, 2016 vs DAL L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 12:36
Mar 5, 2016 @ TOR W 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 2 12:28
Mar 3, 2016 vs TBL L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 3 2 12:38
Mar 1, 2016 vs STL L 3-4 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 10:50
Feb 27, 2016 @ CGY W 6-4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 13:06
Feb 25, 2016 @ VAN L 3-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 10:28
Feb 23, 2016 @ EDM W 4-1 1 0 1 1 0 3 3 10:15
Feb 20, 2016 vs DET W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 08:34
Feb 18, 2016 vs CAR W 4-2 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 11:43
Feb 16, 2016 vs BUF W 2-1 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 10:54