Tampa Bay Lightning left winger Nick Paul of Mississauga, Ontario will be out a minimum of a month because of an upper-body injury that required surgery. He is expected to return at some point in November.
When did Paul suffer the injury?
Paul suffered the injury during the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season. There is a possibility the injury happened last November as Paul missed six games from November 21 to November 30. In that time frame, the Lightning had a record of two wins and four losses. One of their two wins might have been one of the most complete Lightning games they had all season as they clobbered the Colorado Avalanche 8-2.
Surprise time for Paul to have the surgery
Paul had the upper-body surgery on September 12. The fact that he had the surgery less than one month before the season started is what is the most surprising here. It would be interesting to know why the surgery simply did not transpire earlier in the summer so Paul did not have to miss any regular season games.
Paul’s statistics in 2024-25
Paul had 22 goals and 19 assists for 41 points in 76 games. He was a +13 with 30 penalty minutes, five power-play points, three game-winning goals, one shorthanded point, 141 shots on goal, 393 faceoff wins, 31 blocked shots, 66 hits, 19 takeaways, and 48 giveaways. In a bizarre statistic, Paul’s faceoff winning percentage was exactly 50%, as he lost 393 faceoffs too.
Paul’s shorthanded point
Paul’s lone shorthanded point came on October 22, in an 8-5 Lightning win over the New Jersey Devils. Paul picked up the lone helper on a shorthanded goal by defenseman J.J. Moser of Biel, Switzerland that put the Lightning up 8-4 at the time. The goal came at 9:19 of the third period.
Where was Paul supposed to be part of the Kraken lineup?
Paul was on the Lightning’s third line last season. He was expected to once again be a principal member of the Lightning checking lines again in 2025-26.
Who is expected to get more playing time with Paul’s absence?
The answer at this time appears to be forward Gage Goncalves of Mission, British Columbia. The fellow Canadian did play 60 games for the Lightning last season, but only averaged 12 minutes and 48 seconds per game. There is speculation that Lightning head coach Jon Cooper might actually reshuffle his lines and move Goncalves to the second line, where he could see regular playing time alongside Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli.
