- Leafs land Nick Paul from Tampa Bay for goalie Dennis Hildeby and two draft picks
- Paul carries a $3.15M cap hit through 2028-29 and gives Toronto size down the middle
- Read below for the full trade details and why Hildeby became expendable
Toronto went shopping on the first day of free agency and came away with a forward who used to give the Leafs fits.
The Maple Leafs acquired Nick Paul from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported. Toronto sends goaltender Dennis Hildeby the other way.
Two draft picks round it out. PuckPedia had the full breakdown, with the Lightning also collecting a 2027 fourth-rounder and a 2028 third-round pick.
Toronto’s crease got crowded in a hurry. The Leafs signed Sergei Bobrovsky earlier in the day, pairing him with Anthony Stolarz and leaving Hildeby without a clear path to the net.
Flipping the young netminder for a roster player was the logical move here. Hildeby was out of waiver options, so the Leafs cashed him in rather than risk losing him for nothing.
Paul gives Toronto a big body down the middle. The 31-year-old Mississauga native stands 6-foot-4 and plays the heavy, two-way style the Leafs have chased for years.
He posted seven goals and eight assists in 51 games with Tampa this past season, then skated in six playoff games before the Lightning bowed out. Across 537 career games with Ottawa and Tampa, Paul has 104 goals and 110 assists.
The money works too. Paul carries a $3.15 million cap hit through 2028-29, a reasonable number for a fourth-line center who can move up the lineup when the Leafs need him to.
Paul has also spent his whole career in the Atlantic Division, first with the Senators and then the Lightning, so Toronto fans know exactly what they are getting. Now the guy who spent years in their way lines up on their side.
