Tim Stützle will miss tomorrow's contest after he was placed in the NHL's Covid-19 protocol Tuesday so Paul will slide up the lineup to centre Connor Brown and Alex Formenton.
"When we had a bunch of guys down I was up in the middle so I'm pretty comfortable with it," Paul said. "I'm that player wherever I need to be, I'll play, so moving to centre tomorrow with Brown and Formenton, I'm excited for the opportunity and I'm ready to go."
So far in 2021-22, Paul has started 12 games at centre. His experience down the middle is vast as over the course of his career he's played centre in the OHL, AHL and NHL as well as on the international stage at the World Juniors and World Championships.
"Nick can do everything," Senators head coach D.J. Smith said. "The big thing for us is he can play in his own zone very well and I think one of the strengths of putting him with centres, or younger centres like when he played with Tim, is that he can take some of that responsibility and play low.
"We're not asking him to do it for 50 games, we just need him to do it for one."
There is a possibility Stützle returns Saturday when the Senators visit the Oilers but centre is a position that has been decimated this season. The team has been without Colin White all year while Shane Pinto has played just five games. Clark Bishop only made his season debut Jan. 1 against Toronto.
Last week in practice, the Sens even tried Drake Batherson down the middle in an attempt to try something new when Josh Norris was on the NHL's Covid-19 protocol list.
"You're going to try different things when you have this many guys out down the middle," Smith said.
In 28 games this year, Paul has four goals and six points. He's won 47.9 per cent of his faceoffs while he averages 16:50 a game.
Ironically, Paul last started a game at centre Nov. 14 vs. Calgary but the transition from the wing back to the middle is one he finds seamless.
"Once you get used to playing both, [the transition] isn't too bad," he said. "I'm more of a defensive hard-nose player so my role doesn't change. I'm just trying to be that support guy on the ice to force turnovers and create space and for guys like Brown and Formy that are good with the puck and super fast. As much space as I can make them that's going to make our line turn and give us opportunities.
"It's weird to say but I still play the exact same role, just a little bit different positioning on the ice."
Having said that, come Thursday, Paul could likely care less where he plays; he's just thankful the Sens are playing.
Ottawa hasn't played since Jan. 1 and has only played once in 25 days that has resulted in a constant stream of practice.
"We're ready for the real thing at this point," Paul said. "We need to focus on our first couple of shifts.
"Getting right back into the game, skating hard, hitting hard, and from there letting our system and skills take over."
