The start of the 2023-24 NHL regular season has been a rollercoaster of emotions for the Tampa Bay Lightning. While the even-strength play is inconsistent, the power play hasn’t skipped a beat from previous years. To that point, Jon Cooper’s decision to place Nick Paul in front of the net has worked wonders for the top unit through five games and motivated our analysis.
An Analysis on Nick Paul As He Earns Spot on Top Power Play Unit
At points in the game, Tampa Bay plays like the Stanley Cup favourite of the league. In Cooper’s system, Tampa Bay traps their opponents in the defensive zone for an entire period. However, the Lightning always take their foot off the gas because it’s challenging to maintain that pace of play for a full 60 minutes. On the other hand, the special teams continue to thrive. Paul has been a fantastic addition to the top power play unit.
Crash The Net!
Every youth hockey coach in history tells their young players to crash the net. Goalies always allow those juicy rebounds in front of the blue paint. When players drive the net, there’s a higher probability of them scoring. Paul is providing this exact mentality to the Lightning power play.
Paul’s three power play goals is tied with three others to open the season as the lead in the league. In addition, all three of his goals came from rebounds and a net-front presence. Standing at 6’2″ and 229 pounds, Paul is difficult to clear out in chaos. Furthermore, Paul is an intelligent player. His hockey IQ is through the roof. He has unreal awareness when it comes to tracking pucks in scrambles. He also positions himself to take away the eyes of the goaltender, leaving Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov to beat a screened goalie.
Puck Retrievals and Passing
As we continue our analysis of Nick Paul, we find the most intriguing part. That is Paul’s work along the goal line and his ability to make plays with the puck. Believe it or not, Paul displays one of the more underrated puck handling in the league. He isn’t a player to slam the puck into the netminder’s pads and pray the puck squeaks past the goal line. Instead, Paul uses effective, minimal touches to go around defenders and find open teammates.
Paul’s passing skill was displayed when he set up Kucherov for the game-winning goal Thursday night. Paul won a puck battle along the boards after using a soft touch to attack the net from the goal line. When he turned the corner, he feathered a pass on the stick of Kucherov for a wide-open one-timer.
Dave Mishkin calls Kucherov's power play goal, great setup by Nick Paul pic.twitter.com/CIfSk6awps
— Bucs Rays Bolts (@BucsRaysBoltsYT) October 20, 2023
Another great asset of Paul is his ability to win puck battles and forecheck on loose pucks. A power play must retrieve a loose puck after generating a scoring chance to continue pressuring the opponent. If the opponent has an easy time clearing the puck, it kills valuable time, plus a penalty kill can get fresh players on the ice. Paul wins the critical board battles, allowing the Lightning to maintain zone time and wear the penalty-killers down.
Future Outlook
A bold prediction of ours at LWOS was Paul experiencing a breakout offensive season with 50 points. Paul has five points in five games, currently on pace for 82. While this pace is unlikely to continue, the 50-point mark is more than reasonable for him. The Tampa Bay Lightning lucked out when they acquired a player with so much versatility from the Ottawa Senators.
Paul provides a solid two-way impact at even strength and will only continue to improve alongside the Lightning core. He’s already established a name for himself in clutch moments, scoring two goals in game seven of round one during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Moreover, Paul is signed with the Lightning on a cost-efficient deal until the end of the 2028-29 season.
Main photo: Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports
