Nick Paul is the Ottawa Senators’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy awarded to the player that shows perseverance and dedication to hockey.
Each of the NHL’s 31 teams has one nominee for the award voted on by each club’s chapter of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association.
Paul has been steadily playing for the Senators this season following years of bouncing between the pros and the minors.
His 20 points (5g, 15a) this season ties his career-high with three games remaining.
The Mississauga-native was on the first Battalion team after the club relocated from Brampton in 2013. He amassed 140 points (75g, 65a) in 191 OHL games and was an alternate captain in North Bay for his final season. Paul also represented Team Canada at the 2015 World Junior Hockey Championship where he scored three goals in seven games as part of a gold medal-winning team.
Paul was selected 101st overall in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Dallas Stars but was soon traded to Ottawa in the deal involving Jason Spezza.
The forward bounced between the AHL and NHL over the next five years before earning a full-time roster spot with Ottawa this season, earning the role of an alternate captain on the young squad.
Paul credits meditation techniques to his career turnaround that has allowed him to become a regular player in the NHL more than seven years after he was drafted.
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy gets narrowed down to three finalists before a winner is selected at season’s end.
