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Paul Cotter

#47 · Left wing · Vancouver Canucks

Born Nov 16, 1999 in Canton, Michigan, USA (age 26) · 6'2", 213 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 115th overall in 2018 by VGK (round 4)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2022-23

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Cole Perfetti WPG · 6 P in 4 GP Dylan Guenther UTA · 6 P in 4 GP Elias Pettersson VAN · 6 P in 4 GP Vasily Podkolzin EDM · 6 P in 4 GP William Nylander TOR · 6 P in 4 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

05101520252021-22: 2 points221-222022-23: 18 points1822-232023-24: 25 points2523-242024-25: 22 points2224-252025-26: 15 points1525-262026-27: 6 points626-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2021-22 VGK 7 2 0 2 1 6 11 17 0.29 $760K
2022-23 VGK 55 13 5 18 -5 15 76 168 0.33 $760K
2023-24 VGK 76 7 18 25 -11 41 100 233 0.33 $775K
2024-25 NJD 79 16 6 22 -14 62 90 245 0.28 $775K
2025-26 NJD 79 9 6 15 -24 19 61 192 0.19 $775K
2026-27 VAN 4 4 2 6 4 0 7 12 1.50 $2.15M
6 seasons Career 300 51 37 88 -49 143 345 867 0.29

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2024-25 NJD 5 0 1 1 -1 2 5 22 0.20
1 season Playoffs 5 0 1 1 -1 2 5 22 0.20

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
4 4 2 6 4 0 7 12 1.50 57.1 15:14

Contract

$2.15MCap hitends in 2027, then UFA
$358KCap dollars per point6 points in 4 games
-$88KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$2.2MValueworth less cap hit

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over all of it: what the player has done so far, plus the games left at a rate taken from his last three seasons and this one. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 647 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Vancouver Canucks on Jul 1, 2026, as a new contract: 1 year and $2.15M, beginning in 2026-27. It runs through 2026-27, so this is its last season, after which he is an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2026-27 $2.15M

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 1, 2026 Vancouver Canucks New contract 2026-27 to 2026-27 1 $2.15M $2.15M
Aug 13, 2022 Vegas Golden Knights Extension 2023-24 to 2025-26 3 $2.325M $775K
Dec 28, 2018 Vegas Golden Knights Entry-level 2020-21 to 2022-23 signed for 2018-19, slid 3 $2.55M $760K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2026-27 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 4 games (+0.2 goals above replacement), plus the 77 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

-0.9Goals above replacement568th of 647 skaters, 387th of 422 forwards
-0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-3.7Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 422 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence-2.6 10th percentileEven-strength defence-1.5 20th percentilePower play+0.3 77th percentilePenalty kill-0.3 11th percentilePenalties+0.4 58th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance.

-6-4-20242021-222022-232023-242024-252025-262026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

38.3Corsi for %31 attempts for, 50 against
-5.4CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
29.0Expected goals for %1.2 expected for, 2.9 against
-15.1xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
36.7Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
60.0Goals for %3 for, 2 against
113.7PDO21.4% shooting + 92.3% saves
6Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Brock Boeser · Paul Cotter · Liam Ohgren323:1434.825.12-1
Brendan Gallagher · Paul Cotter · Arshdeep Bains211:0731.818.00-1
Brock Boeser · Paul Cotter · Marco Rossi13:3575.040.10-0
Linus Karlsson · Paul Cotter · Liam Ohgren21:52100.0100.01-0

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

4Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.0Expected goalsfrom 8 unblocked attempts
+3.0Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.94 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 11.9% chance per attempt1st
Finishing +3.0 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

01234Goals 4Expected 1.0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Oct 4, 2026 vs VGK L 2-3 1 0 1 -1 0 2 1 18:46
Oct 3, 2026 vs CGY W 4-1 0 1 1 2 0 1 4 14:05
Oct 1, 2026 vs EDM L 7-9 1 1 2 1 0 1 5 16:12
Sep 29, 2026 @ EDM W 6-5 (OT) 2 0 2 2 0 3 2 11:51