New Jersey Devils player profile: Paul Cotter

The 24-year-old winger will bring speed, physicality, and pop to the team's bottom-6.

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The New Jersey Devils unsurprisingly pulled the plug on Alexander Holtz this off-season, shipping him to Vegas in a trade centered around rugged winger Paul Cotter.

Let’s dive into Cotter’s 2023-24 campaign and the outlook for his debut season in New Jersey.

2023-24 review

Cotter’s offensive efficiency took a step in the wrong direction this year.

He put up 20 points at 5v5 over 76 games and scored just .33 goals per hour. Those numbers don’t hold a candle to his rookie season, where he put up 18 5v5 points in 55 games while averaging 1.15 goals per 60.

Despite the drastic dip, particularly when it came to goal scoring efficiency (1.15/60 to .33/60), there were plenty of encouraging signs in his underlying process.

Cotter actually generated shot attempts, scoring chances, and (by the slimmest of margins) expected goals at a higher clip this past season. He also created rebounds at a much higher rate.

It stands to reason he outscored expectations as a rookie and regression simply swung too far the other way.

It’s also worth noting he showed improvements in terms of driving play. His CF% rose 4% while his expected goal share jumped from 43.50% as a rookie to 50.59%.

His defensive impact was especially good. Cotter’s even-strength defense was worth +2.4 Goals Above Replacement, according to Evolving-Hockey.

In terms of off puck individual stats, Cotter landed hits at a very high clip (13.58/60) while ranking tied for 66th among forwards in takeaways per minute.

He did a great job of getting involved physically and helping get the puck back for his team.

2024-25 outlook