A day before the NHL trade deadline, the Ottawa Senators traded forward Nick Paul to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Mathieu Joseph and a 2024 fourth-round pick.
An NHL executive told Full Press Hockey Friday, Nick Paul should sign his four-year, $10 million offer believed to be on the table from the Ottawa Senators and don’t look back. However, Paul wasn’t willing to do so and the Senators stood firm. So, on Paul’s 27th birthday, the final piece remaining in the July 2014 Jason Spezza trade to Dallas was dealt to Tampa Bay.
As part of the trade, the Senators will retain 44.5 percent of Paul’s remaining salary in what was Ottawa’s second deal of the day as hours earlier the team acquired defenseman Travis Hamonic from the Vancouver Canucks for a 2022 third-round pick. In the end, the Senators lose a player well-liked by his teammates on and off the ice.
After Friday’s 3-1 over the Philadelphia Flyers, Josh Norris said, “It’s tough. “Paulie” is such a good guy in the room. He’s one of those guys you really need in the locker room. He’s always fun and joking around. Obviously, he brings a lot on the ice too. He’s a swiss army knife for us.“
Tim Stützle added, “I think it’s really hard for us, the business side. All of us just want to play hockey. Like Josh said, “Paulie” is an unbelievable guy. He’s so pumped for our team, and what he does for our team on and of the ice, helps us a lot. He’s here to win hockey games. I think you can see that he plays the right way every night – just gives everything to the team.”
Placed on waivers on three occasions during his seven seasons in Ottawa, Paul turned to positive thinking and meditation to get himself on the right track after losing all confidence.
Paul was the Senators’ 2020-21 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy nominee for his dedication to hockey. Off the ice, Paul plays a role on the Royal Ottawa Youth Mental Health advisory board. Paul heads to the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Lightning as a rental player who’s betting on himself to procure his asking price in unrestricted free agency.
The Senators’ newest addition Mathieu Joseph is described as a “highly competitive, quick forward who can play either wing” by one NHL executive. The 25-year old arrives in Ottawa with similar offensive numbers to Paul over his 231-game NHL career which includes appearing in 10 postseason contests. Tampa’s 2015 158th overall selection has recorded eight goals, 10 assists in 58 games this season with his best season coming in his 2018-19 rookie campaign where he posted 13 goals, 13 assists. Coincidentally, Joseph’s first NHL goal came in November 2018 at the Canadian Tire Centre.
At 6-foot-1, 190 lbs, Joseph will slide into a similar role with the Senators as Paul previously performed. Joseph averaged 13:42 time-on-ice with the Lightning 2:05 on the penalty kill, third among forwards on the club. The Laval, QC native was a junior teammate of Senators’ Thomas Chabot for all four of his seasons with the Quebec League Saint John Sea Dogs. The pair played in the 2017 Memorial Cup and the World Junior tourney where they earned a silver medal. Joseph and Chabot also represented Canada at the 2019 IIHF World Championship, picking up silver.
Mathieu’s brother, Pierre-Olivier is a defenseman on the Pittsburgh Penguins – becoming the second current brother act to play on the Senators. With Josh Norris and Alex Formenton requiring new contracts in this offseason and Tim Stützle, Artem Zub the following one, the team has to be budget-conscious where possible. A pending restricted free agent, Joseph certainly fits into this category but is more than capable of keeping his end of the bargain.
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