New Jersey Devils Paul Cotter Impressing, More than Just ‘Meat & Potatoes’

NEWARK — Paul Cotter is already making his mark within the New Jersey Devils.

Acquired this summer from the Vegas Golden Knights, Cotter immediately endeared himself to the Devils fan base via social media. Now, he’s at training camp and has made a positive impression on just about everyone.

The Devils made a point of improving their toughness and physicality for 2024-25, and Cotter is meant to be part of that solution. He also appears unafraid to hold others accountable.

“I don’t think it’s too hard to finish your check. We’re going to have a pretty tough team this year, and it shows in the gym. Guys are working out hard. Guys are pushing each other on the ice,” Cotter explained. “So it’s that mentality. It’s not cool to not try. Maybe some guys are like that. But I think that’s how it’s going to be with our team this year. It’s going to be cool to push each other and expect the best out of each other.”

Last season with the Golden Knights, Cotter finished second on the team with 233 hits. And although he’s a fast, physical, forechecking menace, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald sees more than that in him.

“For us today and what we wanted to accomplish, adding a guy like Paul Cotter, who we believe has upside and has a little bit of Miles Wood in him, he can skate and is physical is what we wanted to do,” Fitzgerald explained following Cotter’s acquisition.

READ: Devils GM Reveals Motivation for Acquiring Paul Cotter from Vegas

Through just two days of training camp, Cotter is proving Fitzgerald right. There’s certainly more to Cotter’s game as a physical forward who forechecks well and is in constant pursuit of the puck. Thus far, Cotter’s speed has allowed him to skate by defenders such as Brenden Dillon with the puck, go backhand to forehand, and score on Jacob Markstrom in scrimmage.

In a shootout, he was even able to get Jake Allen to buckle and slide the puck under his pads for another impressive goal.

Suffice it to say that Cotter has the tools to be the total package.

“He’s very skilled. I didn’t know how skilled he was,” Curtis Lazar explained of Cotter. “I think you saw that goal there with the shootout move. But [he’s] high speed, his hands are incredible. I think that’s something that — playing with [Nathan Bastian] — before we go out there, we know what to do. But, to have that element to kind of open up the ice and create room, it’s going to help us as well. Cotter’s not afraid to get dirty. I think that’s going to be our identity as a line. And I’m excited to play with him.”

Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe explained that even before they acquired him over the summer, he saw the untapped potential in his game as well.

“Just watching him and knowing him from the league, but also watching him closer in the offseason, and knowing his history, and talking with our scouts before and after they made the trade, there’s belief that he’s got far more to offer,” Keefe explained. “And I see some of that with his skill set.”

Keefe is going to keep Cotter playing on what appears to be the Devils’ fourth line with Lazar and Bastian. Cotter himself has coined the trio “The Meat Line” in reference to them all being heavy hitters.

However, Keefe explained that Cotter will have the opportunity this season to work his way up through the lineup. He’ll just need to prove he can consistently be what they think he is.

“He played a certain role on a very well-established veteran team in Vegas, and I think he learned a lot through that process,” Keefe concluded. “Just by me talking with him, I think he really took a lot through being a young player on a very good team. But we also feel he’s got more to give. And for us here, we think we’re going to start him in a spot, and we want to see some of those work habits, the heaviness that he brings, and the pace. But I think he’s got more. I expect him, through his consistency and what we want to see from him, to start to push for more and push guys that are above him.”

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