PENTICTON — Paul Cotter believes the Vancouver Canucks are on to something special.
The American winger signed with the rebuilding NHL team as a free agent in July and, after getting to know his teammates in recent weeks, said he believes the new front office is constructing the future “the right way.”
“I think (the team’s) very hungry,” he said at Canucks’ training camp in Penticton, B.C. “I think we have a great balance of leadership as well as young skilled players.
“Honestly, I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people. I’d rather be an underdog than in the middle of the pack. So it’s pretty fun.”
Cotter believes he, too, can surprise people.
Heading into his sixth NHL season, the 26-year-old forward from Canton, Mich., has proven himself to be a versatile player for both the Vegas Golden Knights and New Jersey Devils, but has yet to reach the high expectations he’s set for himself.
“I’ve been told by Bruce Cassidy, Sheldon Keefe, my previous coaches, that I have all of the tools I need to be a great player in this league — a high-impact player is what I call it,” he said.
“But it’s when to use things. There’s physicality that’s part of my game — when to be physical and crush a guy — and there’s the skill … But when to use the skill, when to use the tenaciousness, when to be simple, just put the puck in? Those are the things that come with just maturing as a player.”
Selected by Vegas in the fourth round of the 2018 draft, Cotter has tallied 47 goals and 35 assists over 296 regular-season games. He won a Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023 before getting dealt to the Devils ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Last season, the six-foot-two, 213-pound winger factored into 79 games for New Jersey, logging nine goals and six assists while averaging 10:41 in ice time.
He spent the summer working on details, knowing that he could line up alongside some big-time scorers like Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk or Elias Pettersson in Vancouver.
“If I want to play with those guys, I need to go to the next step of my game. So that’s kind of what I’ve been working on. I think if I do that, the rest will take over,” Cotter said.
“I like to think that I’m ready to figure those little things out, and once I do, hopefully I’m rewarded with more opportunity.”
Cotter’s also been crafting his role off the ice, a role he describes as being the glue between Vancouver’s veteran players and the incoming crop of young talent that are expected to lead the franchise to a bright future.
Both groups are critical in a rebuild, he said.
“The biggest thing, I think, is having the balance between older and younger players,” he said. “In terms of the older guys wanting to teach, showing a good example, being in the gym, doing the little things that the younger guys are able to watch and want and willing to to work on.
“Then you kind of have a couple guys right in the middle like myself that can kind of do both and talk to each side.”
In both summer skates and training camp, Cotter’s been learning his teammates’ tendencies and preferences, from where a guy likes to receive the puck to how he wants to be treated after making a mistake.
He’s also someone who’s quick to joke, and has made a point of learning every player’s middle name or nickname.
“It makes it easier because in practice, somebody knows that I’m going to go 110 per cent, probably put them through a wall,” said Cotter, who’s middle name is Thaddeus. ”But then right after I’m going to be laughing and joking about it the rest of the day. So that kind of lightens the mood, but it also pushes the pace.”
Cotter’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed either on or off the ice.
“He’s done a great job of fitting in, and picking up on the concepts,” said Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra.
“Obviously, a lot of these drills and perhaps tactics are going to be new to him. Obviously, a new environment, new teammates, so he’s done a really good job of just kind of getting integrated into the group and getting in line on the ice.”
The Vancouver Canucks are set to open the 2025-26 on Sept. 29 against the Oilers in Edmonton.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2026.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
