When the Tampa Bay Lightning open their pre-season on September 22nd they will do without a key part of their roster. Left winger Nick Paul will not just miss pre-season, but also opening day on October 9 and will continue to be sidelined until November after undergoing surgery to repair an upper body injury he finished the 2024-25 season with.
During their media day availability Lightning manager Julien BriseBois released the news that Paul underwent the procedure last Friday.
“It’s something he had been dealing with most of last season, to be honest,” said BriseBois.
Though he was dealing with the injury, Paul still struck for 22 goals, 19 assists, and 41 points in 76 regular season games skated. In the Stanley Cup playoffs, he continued to push through for his team, appearing in five games in the postseason, scoring two goals.
Though he made it through the season, it became evident over the course of the summer that more needed to be done to get Paul back to skating at 100 percent.
“We tried every conservative method of getting him back to 100 percent over the course of summer, and everything we tried just wasn’t working,” he noted. “As we got closer to the start of the season, we decided this was probably best to be addressed through surgery.”
Paul has been a part of the Lightning’s roster since 2022 when he was traded to the Lightning by the Ottawa Senators, who will face the Lightning on opening day this year.
During his time with Tampa Bay so far, the 30-year old Mississauga, Ontario, Canada native has skated in 259 regular season games with the bolts. He has 133 points accumulated through the 68 goals he’s scored and 65 assists.
Paul’s loss will be felt on the third line as he has a great ability to break up passes and kill penalties. He was strong in creating turnovers and getting the puck back into opponent territory and creating scoring opportunities for Tampa bay. The Lightning were forward-heavy in the draft and offseason moves, however, which will give them a good opportunity to use some of their new acquires up front and see what they can do as the season begins.
Pending his recovery process goes as planned, Paul should be able to return to the ice in November. Until then, the next man up will have an opportunity to make an impact on the ice for Tampa Bay.