Paul Cotter aims to make his mark with the Vancouver Canucks

Paul Cotter believes the Vancouver Canucks are building something special. The American winger signed with the rebuilding NHL club as a free agent in July and said at training camp in Penticton, B.C., that the new front office is constructing the team’s future the right way.

The 26-year-old said the Canucks have a hungry group with veteran leadership and skilled young players. Entering his sixth NHL season, Cotter said he expects the club to surprise people and is comfortable with being viewed as an underdog.

Cotter, from Canton, Mich., has played for the Vegas Golden Knights and New Jersey Devils. Selected by Vegas in the fourth round of the 2018 draft, he has 47 goals and 35 assists in 296 regular-season games and won the Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023. He was traded to New Jersey before the 2024-25 season and recorded nine goals and six assists in 79 games last season while averaging 10:41 of ice time.

He said former coaches Bruce Cassidy and Sheldon Keefe told him he has the tools to become a high-impact NHL player, but that maturity means knowing when to use his physicality, skill, tenacity or a simpler play. Cotter spent the summer working on those details as he seeks opportunities alongside scorers such as Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson.

Off the ice, Cotter sees himself as a bridge between Vancouver’s veterans and its younger players. He said both groups are essential during a rebuild, with older players setting an example and teaching younger teammates. He has used summer skates and training camp to learn teammates’ preferences, from where they want the puck to how they prefer to be approached after mistakes.

Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra said Cotter has done a great job fitting in and picking up the team’s concepts.