Player Discussion: Nick Paul

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[Zwui21]

 

[LightningStrikes]

It will be tough to keep him and at the same time this should be a priority!

 

[JoVel]

Would he really be as difficult to retain as some are making it out to be? He hasn't put up the regular season numbers to ask for a lot more than he's worth imo.

Then again, playoffs are one hell of a drug. If we go deep and he keeps impressing, some dumbass will give him a Bryan Bickell deal.

 

[Peacefool]

It will be tough to keep him and at the same time this should be a priority!

I dont know our cap situation but if Pally/Killer, Ruuta are gone, wont we have money for him?

 

[LightningStrikes]

Would he really be as difficult to retain as some are making it out to be? He hasn't put up the regular season numbers to ask for a lot more than he's worth imo.

Then again, playoffs are one hell of a drug. If we go deep and he keeps impressing, some dumbass will give him a Bryan Bickell deal.

I mean look at what Goodrow got. Let’s hope Big Nick really digs playing here and takes a discount deal.

 

[LightningStrikes]

I dont know our cap situation but if Pally/Killer, Ruuta are gone, wont we have money for him?

Yes but then you’d still need to replace two more roster players. Cap Friendly shows it pretty well: Tampa Bay Lightning Salary Cap, Draft Picks, and Player Contracts - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

 

[Stammertime91]

Have a hard time believing Paul wouldn't want to stay. The fact he's a Bolt is enough alone given our success and he stayed how happy he was to be traded here. Then factor in his (growing) role with us. It's not like Tampa is going to ignore this and offer him 1m for 2 years. Though he's not 6m like Coleman and we shouldnt offer that. I get other teams may offer 5M, but I think in the end we can retain him and the culture here is enough to help do that.

He can always take 5M and be golfing right now, but not every player is like that. Paul's compete level so far doesn't indicate he's been thrilled doing that in Ottawa. No offense to them.

 

[StammerHammer]

Sean Bergenheim was on average about a .35 point a game player during his career. He had a career playoff for the Lightning in 2011. 16 games, 9 goals, 11 points. He was a UFA and the Panthers signed him to a $11 million 4 year contract that summer based solely on the playoffs. Lightning weren't even close to matching it. Sean walked.

I could see the same thing happening with Paul.

 

[DFC]

Wonder if he would take something short, like a year, in order to break the bank next year with bigger regular season numbers. If this guy puts up 50 points in the regular season, which is not unrealistic in a top-6 role with us, he could be looking at $5m+ plus term the year after, rather than 3-4 this summer.

 

[aessi]

I dont know our cap situation but if Pally/Killer, Ruuta are gone, wont we have money for him?

With Fortier up we should have close to 5m space. Points salary goes up with 2.75m, Palat clears 5,3m, Rutta clears 1.3m and cap goes up for 1m. If Fortier / Smith whoever can play in the NHL that leaves us with signing Palat or Paul +6th/7th dman.

 

[Peacefool]

With Fortier up we should have close to 5m space. Points salary goes up with 2.75m, Palat clears 5,3m, Rutta clears 1.3m and cap goes up for 1m. If Fortier / Smith whoever can play in the NHL that leaves us with signing Palat or Paul +6th/7th dman.

Thats what I was thinking. Next year unless JFBB makes some miracle, we need to depend on our AHL guys

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Sean Bergenheim was on average about a .35 point a game player during his career. He had a career playoff for the Lightning in 2011. 16 games, 9 goals, 11 points. He was a UFA and the Panthers signed him to a $11 million 4 year contract that summer based solely on the playoffs. Lightning weren't even close to matching it. Sean walked.

I could see the same thing happening with Paul.

Man, the memories of that Bergenheim-Moore-Downie line. They were so f*cking good during that postseason. Maybe the OG "top 3rd line" in Lightning playoff history, though I only say that because I don't really remember what our bottom-6 composition looked like during 2004. I know Andreychuk must've been plugging around down there along with power play time, but I was 10 years old at the time so my eyes were always drawn to Vinny/Marty/Brad along with Feds/Modin/Stillman surrounding them.

 

[Hoek]

Man, the memories of that Bergenheim-Moore-Downie line. They were so f*cking good during that postseason. Maybe the OG "top 3rd line" in Lightning playoff history, though I only say that because I don't really remember what our bottom-6 composition looked like during 2004. I know Andreychuk must've been plugging around down there along with power play time, but I was 10 years old at the time so my eyes were always drawn to Vinny/Marty/Brad along with Feds/Modin/Stillman surrounding them.

3rd line was Roy, Afanasenkov, and a mix of Clymer, Perrin and Cibak if I recall correctly. They didn't really bring much offense but cycled well and brought some jam. 4th line was Dingman-Taylor-Andreychuk and they played a lot like the School Bus line, Dingman was like Maroon just eating pucks along the boards, Taylor like Bellemare with faceoffs and good center play, and Andreychuk with the veteran scorers hands like Perry, though he mostly had assists that run.

 

[BoltzManConstant]

Wonder if he would take something short, like a year, in order to break the bank next year with bigger regular season numbers. If this guy puts up 50 points in the regular season, which is not unrealistic in a top-6 role with us, he could be looking at $5m+ plus term the year after, rather than 3-4 this summer.

Yeah, that's the only scenario I can see working out, and still feels really unlikely.

Nick Paul is a 27-year-old who has only made above league minimum once in his career ($1.35m this year). Heck, prior to age 25 he barely played in the NHL and was on two-way deals, so he was getting minor league money.

All that to say he's not a guy swimming in cash who can really afford to give anybody a sweetheart deal -- for all he knows, he may only have a few more seasons to cash in to set himself up for the rest of his life.

And we can't afford to overpay a guy for his performance in such a thin slice of games. Somebody out there can afford to roll the dice and pay him, I dunno, $4m/yr in the hope that he's suddenly that good. But not Tampa.

But maybe your scenario comes true -- maybe he can't find a team to give him big money with long term and we can convince him that a one-year bargain deal could raise his stock so much it pays off in the end. I think it's a bit too much to hope for, though.

 

[Zwui21]

Sean Bergenheim was on average about a .35 point a game player during his career. He had a career playoff for the Lightning in 2011. 16 games, 9 goals, 11 points. He was a UFA and the Panthers signed him to a $11 million 4 year contract that summer based solely on the playoffs. Lightning weren't even close to matching it. Sean walked.

I could see the same thing happening with Paul.

Oh man, the memories.
I remember in that run (beside the glorious comeback against the pens in the first round and the sweep to the caps in the second round) everytime Bergenheim scored a goal we would end up winning the game.
Don't ask me why I have this memory lol, but I remember that when watching the game if Sean scored I was 100% sure we would end up winning said game.

 

[DarrylshutzSydor]

I was critical of this guy in the first round, but since game six he has proven to be one of the best deadline acquisitions. I stand corrected.

 

[ThunderRoad]

Yeah, that's the only scenario I can see working out, and still feels really unlikely.

Nick Paul is a 27-year-old who has only made above league minimum once in his career ($1.35m this year). Heck, prior to age 25 he barely played in the NHL and was on two-way deals, so he was getting minor league money.

All that to say he's not a guy swimming in cash who can really afford to give anybody a sweetheart deal -- for all he knows, he may only have a few more seasons to cash in to set himself up for the rest of his life.

And we can't afford to overpay a guy for his performance in such a thin slice of games. Somebody out there can afford to roll the dice and pay him, I dunno, $4m/yr in the hope that he's suddenly that good. But not Tampa.

But maybe your scenario comes true -- maybe he can't find a team to give him big money with long term and we can convince him that a one-year bargain deal could raise his stock so much it pays off in the end. I think it's a bit too much to hope for, though.

It wouldn't be surprising if he agreed to less than some other team offers - this is his first playoff experience with a chance to win. Would think that is highly appealing when coming from a team that never got to the postseason. And he has spoken very highly of the organization.

Goodrow and Coleman had more experience than Paul at the time of their new deals, and even then Goodrow and Coleman wanted to stay on and likely would have taken less. However, with little cap space, the amount less they would have had to take was too much of a discount.

 

[These Are The Days]

You pay Paul something reasonable and keep him. He's actually BETTER than Goodrow and Coleman. We paid a lot for them and had to let them go. Business is/was business. It was a hard choice. And a hard choice may need to be made because Paul improves us in every way AND is better than guys we've lost.

But we also can't keep losing guys we paid an arm, leg and first-born child for so dudes can be rolling into like year 6 with us while a guy like Paul barely gets 6 months. Evaluate the cost of guys like Killorn, Cirelli, Sergachev and the UFA statuses of guys like Palat and Rutta

This might've been one of the better trades we've made and if this team is in "Let's be an actual dynasty" mode then by God we have nothing else to give away to keep in power

 

[Bartleby]

Nick Paul is 27 years old and had been mired in Ottawan obscurity for his entire career until the trade. He made his ELC $900K in each of his first three seasons and $1.3M the past two. He has finally had an opportunity to show what he can do on a big stage and because of his performance on that stage he will be getting several overpay contract offers once the season is over. He would be a fool to not take full advantage of them. You don't get many chances to cash in in life and all too often if you miss them, they're gone.

There is no way he is taking some kind of significant "I love Tampa" discount and I would not begrudge him that at all. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see him stay if they can figure that out, but it won't be because he took some kind of huge discount to do it.

 

[Hammerlik]

Nick Paul is 27 years old and had been mired in Ottawan obscurity for his entire career until the trade. He made his ELC $900K in each of his first three seasons and $1.3M the past two. He has finally had an opportunity to show what he can do to the entire hockey world on a big stage and he would be a fool to take anything less than the overpay offers that are coming his way once this season is over. You don't get many chances to cash in in life and all too often if you miss it, it's gone.

There is no way he is taking some kind of significant "I love Tampa" discount and I would not begrudge him that at all. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see him stay if they can figure that out, but it won't be because he took some kind of huge discount to do it.

I am not gonna hold it against him at all either, so far getting paid $$$ is simply what he deserves, but if he believes Tampa's window is for another 3(?) years, he could take sort of a bridge deal, 2x2m maybe and even ?

But yeah, if he gets offered say 4 mil/year from a contender, he might as well cash in.

Either way, I love Mr. Dick and will follow his career closely wherever he goes.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Maybe Palat goes for a team friendly extension and we can shift some of his money in Paul’s direction?

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

Maybe Palat goes for a team friendly extension and we can shift some of his money in Paul’s direction?

Seems pretty optimistic to me. Palat is the better part of PPG right now and did great in the 2020 playoffs. Someone will be willing to throw money at him.

 

[Peacefool]

I always wondered can players just say, no I dont want contract for 5 mil , i earned my money i wanna help my team thats why i will take league min contract. Is it forbidden or players can do this?

 

[Zwui21]

Seems pretty optimistic to me. Palat is the better part of PPG right now and did great in the 2020 playoffs. Someone will be willing to throw money at him.

I might be a hopeless romantic, but honestly I don't see Palat being willing to go to play anywhere else.
He's been in Tampa his whole career, he's earned some good money so far and loves it in Tampa. And honestly, why would you be willing to leave the best organization in sports that is still set to be a contender for a long time, in one of the better spots in the US, for a couple mills more? Sure, it depends on the core motivations of the player.
I could see him taking a fairly big discount to stay to play in Tampa (obviously with a NMC if he takes a cut).