Nick Paul Goes Down in the Preseason Finale

Nick Paul suffered an injury in Thursday's preseason finale, the team confirmed. He was an offseason addition brought in to fill out the left wing depth, and he slots third on the depth chart there behind Matthew Knies and first-overall pick Gavin McKenna. The timing is about as bad as it gets — the regular season is days away.

This is the part of the offseason reset that keeps compounding. Toronto came into camp already managing Matthews, Tanev, Domi, and Joshua on the shelf. Joshua's status remains uncertain after skating with the Marlies group earlier this week rather than the main camp body. Now Paul is added to the list before he played a meaningful minute in a Leafs uniform.

The left wing depth behind Knies and McKenna is thin. With Paul unavailable, Toronto will lean on whatever internal options remain — and that group doesn't offer much margin. My read is that this is the kind of pre-opener injury that forces a decision in the next 48 hours, whether that's a recall, a waiver claim, or just rolling with what's there and hoping the injured players return quickly.

The organization spent the summer remaking this roster. Some of those moves have held up; others haven't had the chance to. Paul's injury is a small but irritating setback in a camp that has had no shortage of them.