C · VAN · NHL id 8481032
Paul Cotter has played 2 games for the Vancouver Canucks in 2026-27, scoring 3 goals and 1 assist (4 points) on 4 shots while averaging 14:02 a night (12:04 at even strength, 0:00 on the power play and 1:56 shorthanded). At 5v5 he has skated 55% of his 5v5 minutes with Arshdeep Bains and 52% with Brendan Gallagher over the last 2 games, and the Canucks have controlled 37% of shot attempts with Cotter on the ice (2-1 in goals, 33% offensive-zone starts). In the Canucks' most recent game against EDM he was on L1 with Brock Boeser and Liam Ohgren and off the power play; moved up to L1 (from L4) in the last game.
Right now
From the Oct 1 game vs EDM, detected from shift data
- 4 P in last 2 (0.20/GP before)
- +5:07 TOI a game
- 36% of 5v5 TOI with Boeser (was 0%)
- Top-six in 1 of last 2 (was 0 of 20)
Deployment timeline
2026-27 · per-game ice time by strength, with line and power-play unit changes
Usage: 2 games, 14:00 average time on ice, PP1 in 0 games, 1 line changes.
- Even strength
- Power play
- Penalty kill
- 5-game average
- Did not play
- ▲ promoted · ▼ demoted
NHL EDGE tracking
2025-26 percentiles among skaters at his position
Only 2 GP in 2026-27; showing 2025-26 NHL EDGE data.
Season-level NHL EDGE puck and player tracking, refreshed nightly. The percentile is the league rank among skaters this season; the label at the right is the raw value.
Shot map
2026-27 · 7 attempts, 4 on goal, 3 goals
Shot map, OPP at VAN: 7 attempts, 4 on goal, 3 goals, 0.92 expected goals; best chance Paul Cotter at 0.49 xG.
- Even strength
- Power play
- Penalty kill
- Goal
- Shot on goal
- Missed
- Blocked
Luck
2025-26 · 79 GP · 15 points vs 15.5 expected
Last 20 games: +6. Positive means running hot (sell), negative running cold (buy).
- 14.8%
- 94.3
- 75.0%
- G vs xG
- 9 / 8.8
- • Role rose over the last 10 games (1 promotion event): some of the heat may be real.
- Actual goals
- Expected
- ±1σ
- Above expected
- Below expected
Player analytics
Compare with another player →2025-26 regular season. Rank is among all qualified players; the bar is his percentile among forwards. Each stat links to its explainer.
- 2026-27 so far: 2 GP, 3 G, 1 A, 0 PPP, 4 SOG.
Fantasy box score
- Games played79
- Goals9320th of 715
- Assists6573rd of 715
- Points15477th of 715
- Power-play points1380th of 715
- Shorthanded points0227th of 715
- Shots on goal61495th of 715
- Hits19229th of 715
- Blocked shots22561st of 715
- Plus/minus−24692nd of 715
- Penalty minutes19465th of 715
- Faceoffs won68198th of 715
Possession & shot quality (5-on-5 on-ice)
- Corsi (CF%)43.6%674th of 719
- Fenwick (FF%)43.5%679th of 719
- Expected goals (xGF%)38.9%703rd of 719
- Sequence xG (sxGF%)38.9%703rd of 719
- High-danger chances (HDCF%)40.2%684th of 719
- Scoring chances (SCF%)40.0%704th of 719
Transition, turnovers & faceoffs
- Transition attempts /601.11250th of 719
- Turnover Ledger /60−0.050413th of 719
- Forecheck xG /60 (on-ice)0.32262nd of 719
- Faceoff win %51.5%83rd of 238
- Draw Equity /100−0.022130th of 238
Usage
- Ice time per game10:41653rd of 715
- Power-play time per game0:10474th of 715
- Offensive-zone start %60.1%154th of 719
Special teams & discipline
- Net penalties drawn /60+0.7118th of 719
Luck & trend
- On-ice PDO943701st of 719
- Goals above expected+0.2305th of 715
- Luck Meter−29595th of 828
- Ascension score754th of 428
NHL EDGE tracking
- Top skating speed23.191st of 715
- 20+ mph bursts16474th of 715
- Hardest shot91.7195th of 715
- Offensive-zone time40.2%527th of 715
Unranked rows are below the sample minimum (20 GP, 200 five-on-five minutes, 100 draws or 10 goalie games).
Beyond the box score
2025-26 regular season · 78 of 79 games through the sequence engine (more fill in as games are reprocessed)
- −0.023
- Season net
- −0.32xG
5-on-5. Each takeaway is credited, and each giveaway charged, at the league xG value of the zone.
- Per 100 draws
- −0.022
- Season
- −0.03G
- 51.5%132 draws
Wins by zone: OZ 29-39 · NZ 23-11 · DZ 16-14
- Per 60
- 1.11
- Attempts
- 15
- 0.059
5-on-5 shots within 10 seconds of winning the puck outside the offensive zone.
Role changes
Notable promotions, demotions and ice-time swings from Line Watch
- Moved up to L2 from L3Dec 13, 2025 alerts →
- Moved up to L1 from L4Jan 27, 2024 alerts →
- Moved down to L4 from L1Feb 27, 2023 alerts →
- Moved down to L3 from L1Dec 15, 2022 alerts →
How his goals happened
35 goals since 2023-24 with NHL EDGE tracking: press Replay to watch the tracking animation
| Game | Play | Entry | Passes | Shot mph | Notes | Replay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 vs EDM | Forecheck turnover | loose | 0 | 48.6 | — | |
| Sep 29, 2026 @ EDM | Forecheck turnover | — | 1 | 15.1 | — | |
| Sep 29, 2026 @ EDM | Odd-man rush | carry | 1 | 76.3 | 2-on-1 | |
| Apr 9, 2026 vs PIT | Odd-man rush | carry | 0 | 13.8 | 1-on-0 | |
| Mar 16, 2026 vs BOS | Rush | pass | 0 | 50.5 | one-timer | |
| Mar 16, 2026 vs BOS | Odd-man rush | pass | 2 | 26.9 | 3-on-0 | |
| Feb 26, 2026 @ PIT | Deflection | — | 5* | 76.6 | deflection | |
| Dec 13, 2025 vs ANA | Cycle | — | 0 | 25.9 | — | |
| Dec 11, 2025 vs TBL | Odd-man rush | pass | 2 | 31.7 | 1-on-0 | |
| Dec 9, 2025 @ OTT | Odd-man rush | carry | 0 | 17.5 | 1-on-0 | |
| Nov 28, 2025 @ BUF | Rush | loose | 2 | 19.7 | — | |
| Oct 22, 2025 vs MIN | Forecheck turnover | — | 0 | 12.8 | — | |
| Mar 29, 2025 @ MIN | Rebound | carry | 0 | 22.2 | rebound | |
| Mar 20, 2025 vs CGY | Rush | loose | 0 | 31.4 | — | |
| Mar 11, 2025 vs CBJ | Odd-man rush | carry | 0 | 19.0 | 1-on-0 | |
| Feb 8, 2025 @ MTL | Rebound | — | 0 | 29.8 | rebound | |
| Feb 2, 2025 @ BUF | Odd-man rush | carry | 1 | 61.7 | 3-on-2 | |
| Feb 2, 2025 @ BUF | Odd-man rush | carry | 0 | 26.4 | 4-on-3 | |
| Jan 6, 2025 @ SEA | Rush | carry | 0 | 21.7 | — | |
| Jan 4, 2025 @ SJS | Odd-man rush | carry | 1 | 45.0 | 3-on-2 | |
| Dec 28, 2024 @ CAR | Odd-man rush | carry | 0 | 31.8 | 2-on-1 | |
| Nov 12, 2024 @ FLA | Odd-man rush | carry | 2 | 72.4 | 3-on-2 | |
| Oct 27, 2024 vs ANA | Rebound | — | 0 | 24.9 | rebound | |
| Oct 17, 2024 @ OTT | Rebound | — | 0 | 24.1 | rebound | |
| Oct 12, 2024 @ WSH | Odd-man rush | loose | 2 | 63.2 | 2-on-1, one-timer | |
| Oct 12, 2024 @ WSH | Rush | carry | 0 | 39.4 | one-timer | |
| Oct 5, 2024 vs BUF | Rush | carry | 1 | 27.0 | — | |
| Oct 4, 2024 @ BUF | Point shot | — | 0 | 16.4 | — | |
| Feb 29, 2024 @ BOS | Odd-man rush | carry | 0 | 23.7 | 3-on-2 | |
| Jan 27, 2024 @ DET | Forecheck turnover | — | 1* | 74.3 | — | |
| Dec 21, 2023 @ TBL | Forecheck turnover | — | 0 | 51.6 | — | |
| Dec 9, 2023 @ DAL | Forecheck turnover | — | 1 | 31.3 | — | |
| Oct 30, 2023 vs MTL | Forecheck turnover | — | 1 | 40.2 | — | |
| Oct 24, 2023 vs PHI | Rush | carry | 2 | 39.3 | — | |
| Oct 21, 2023 @ CHI | Forecheck turnover | — | 0 | 54.2 | — |
* includes a royal-road (cross-slot) pass. Derived from NHL EDGE puck and player tracking.
Linemates
2026-27 · 5v5 time together and how each pairing performs with and without Cotter
| Teammate | Pos | GP | Share | CF% together | GF% together | CF% Cotter apart | CF% mate apart | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arshdeep Bains | LW | 2 | 13:05 | 55% | 31.8% | 0% (0-1) | 46.2% 10:43 | 86.7% 6:24 |
| Brendan Gallagher | RW | 2 | 12:28 | 52% | 31.8% | 0% (0-1) | 46.2% 11:20 | 60.0% 7:42 |
| Tom Willander | D | 2 | 11:00 | 46% | 23.1% | 100% (1-0) | 45.5% 12:48 | 30.4% 25:24 |
| Jamie Oleksiak | D | 2 | 10:56 | 46% | 27.8% | 50% (1-1) | 47.1% 12:52 | 30.4% 25:47 |
| Elias Pettersson | D | 2 | 8:54 | 37% | 41.7% | 100% (1-0) | 34.8% 14:54 | 62.1% 17:22 |
| Brock Boeser | RW | 1 | 8:29 | 36% | 45.5% | 100% (2-0) | 37.5% 5:41 | 38.5% 5:49 |
| Liam Ohgren | LW | 1 | 8:15 | 35% | 45.5% | 100% (2-0) | 37.5% 5:55 | 41.7% 6:08 |
| Luke Schenn | D | 2 | 6:16 | 26% | 50.0% | 100% (1-0) | 32.0% 17:32 | 66.7% 18:26 |
| Filip Hronek | D | 2 | 5:46 | 24% | 62.5% | — (0-0) | 29.6% 18:02 | 42.3% 27:14 |
| Zeev Buium | D | 2 | 4:45 | 20% | 33.3% | 0% (0-1) | 38.5% 19:03 | 48.4% 34:10 |
| Jonathan Lekkerimäki | RW | 1 | 1:13 | 5% | — | — (0-0) | 42.1% 12:57 | 76.5% 9:04 |
Game log
2 games in 2026-27, newest first
| Date | Opp | Result | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | HIT | BLK | EV | PP | PK | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | vs EDM | L 7-9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 64% | 16:12 | 14:10 | — | 1:59 |
| Sep 29 | @ EDM | W 6-5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38% | 11:51 | 9:58 | — | 1:53 |
Season splits by strength
2026-27 regular season · on-ice numbers from shift and play-by-play data
| Strength | GP | TOI/GP | SA | GF | GA | GF% | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All situations | 2 | 28:03 | 14:02 | 16 | 30 | 34.8% | 32.4% | 7 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 67% | 1.2 | 1.9 | 14% |
| Even strength | 2 | 24:08 | 12:04 | 15 | 22 | 40.5% | 37.0% | 6 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 75% | 1.0 | 0.9 | 33% |
| 5v5 | 2 | 23:48 | 11:54 | 13 | 22 | 37.1% | 32.0% | 5 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 67% | 0.4 | 0.9 | 33% |
| Penalty kill | 2 | 3:52 | 1:56 | 1 | 8 | 11.1% | 14.3% | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 50% | 0.1 | 1.0 | 0% |
| 4v5 | 2 | 3:52 | 1:56 | 1 | 8 | 11.1% | 14.3% | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 50% | 0.1 | 1.0 | 0% |
Career by season
Seasons in Edgehalla's data (2025-26 is being backfilled; earlier seasons follow)
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | HIT | BLK | TOI/GP | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | VAN | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | +3 | 0 | 4 | 75.0% | 7 | 0 | 14:02 |
| 2025-26 | NJD | 79 | 9 | 6 | 15 | -24 | 19 | 61 | 14.8% | 192 | 22 | 10:41 |
| 2024-25Playoffs | NJD | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 2 | 5 | 0.0% | 22 | 3 | 14:25 |
| 2024-25 | NJD | 79 | 16 | 6 | 22 | -14 | 62 | 90 | 17.8% | 245 | 32 | 13:05 |
| 2023-24 | VGK | 76 | 7 | 18 | 25 | -11 | 41 | 100 | 7.0% | 233 | 29 | 12:44 |
| 2022-23 | VGK | 55 | 13 | 5 | 18 | -5 | 15 | 76 | 17.1% | 168 | 17 | 12:50 |
| 2021-22 | VGK | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 6 | 11 | 18.2% | 17 | 1 | 8:49 |
Paul Cotter news
- Paul Cotter Makes Historic Canucks Debutsports.yahoo.com
- How Paul Cotter, Canucks stunned Edmonton in opening-night classicThe New York Times
- Canucks News & Rumours: Teaching Young Players How to PlayThe Hockey Writers
- 4 Takeaways From Canucks’ Thrilling 6-5 Overtime Win Over the OilersThe Hockey Writers
- Cotter's OT winner gives Malhotra's Canucks win over Babcock's Oilers in coaches' debutTSN
- Paul Cotter Scores The Vancouver Canucks' First Goal Of The 2026-27 Seasonsports.yahoo.com
- Canucks' Paul Cotter: Opens, closes scoring in winCBS Sports
- Paul Cotter Nets OT Winner, Canucks Edge Oilers 6-5 in Thrilling Season-OpenerNHL.com
Headlines via LineupExperts. Links open the original publisher.
On-ice and deployment numbers are derived by Edgehalla from NHL play-by-play and shift data. Tracking percentiles are from NHL EDGE. Data updates after every game.