Based on a few coincidental factors it appears that Nick Paul is going to be back in the Tampa Bay Lightning line-up tonight as they face the Edmonton Oilers. First off, the Lightning re-assigned Scott Sabourin to Syracuse yesterday, indicating that yet another forward was healthy following the return of Anthony Cirelli and Dominic James. Second, at the morning skate, Paul led the stretching from the center of the ice, an unofficial position of honor usually reserved for players getting called up, celebrating milestones, or returning to action.
Pauly takes center stage for the morning skate stretch.
#GoBolts
— Benjamin Pierce (@boltsben.bsky.social) November 20, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Third, he seemed like a guy ready to play when he spoke to the media following the morning skate,
“We’ll see what the coaches’ call is. I’ve never had this before we’re you’re coming in 20 games into the season. Just taking it simple.”
Coach Jon Cooper told the assembled reporters that Paul “should” be in the line-up tonight. For the morning practice, the 30-year-old forward was skating on a line with Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point, an indication that he will likely start his season on the wing.
While the Lightning could undoubtably use his talents in the face-off dot (he has a career success rate of 52% in the mystic arts of winning draws) he is coming off of a wrist injury, and the team might not want to test that out too much out of the gate. While he is primarily a center, he has experience playing on the wing and shouldn’t be too out of place skating nearer to the boards as opposed to down the middle of the ice.
With his return, the Lightning regain a middle-six forward with size who can usually be counted to score at the 30-40 point pace. He’s eclipsed 20 goals in each of the last two seasons and has put up 133 points (68 goals, 65 assists) in his 259 games as a member of the organization. Not only should he help deepen the offense, he was one of the team’s better defensive forwards last season.
It’s unlikely that he will slot into the first power play unit since his role is usually down low on the same side of Nikita Kucherov, a spot currently occupied by Jake Guentzel. He might see some time on the second unit where he can use his long reach to retrieve pucks.
He’s not an overly physical player despite his 6’4″, 234 lb. frame, instead using that size to shield opponents off of the puck when he possesses it, while using that aforementioned reach to retrieve pucks or break up passes in the neutral zone and his own zone.
Perhaps the most important impact that Paul’s return has is that it should settle the line-up a little more. Unfortunately for Jack Finley, it looks like he’ll be the first one to lose his spot, Paul’s return should make that fourth line a little more offensively adept as it will be comprised of Curtis Douglas (for now), Dominic James, and Gage Goncalves. When Pontus Holmberg returns, he’ll probably take Douglas’ spot or flip-flop with noted goal-scorer Zemgus Girgensons on that line.
Per his comments after practice today, it’s been tough for Paul to sit on the sidelines, so he’s likely chomping at the bit to get going tonight. The Lightning are getting closer to the line-up Julien BriseBois and Jon Cooper envisioned over the summer, and while they did a good job of holding things together while waiting for the injured players to return, Paul’s return makes them a better team, which should help them in the fight to get to the top of the division.