Cotter has made an immediate impact, scoring his first career shorthanded goal and second career overtime-winner in the Canucks 6-5 season-opener victory against the Edmonton Oilers.
The performance made Cotter the sixth player in franchise history to record multiple goals in his Vancouver debut, and the first Canuck to score either a shorthanded or overtime goal in his debut.
He heads back to a place he knows well with an even-keel mindset and a focus on maintaining the play he’s put forth in the first few games of the season.
Cotter spent two seasons with the New Jersey Devils, and he knows returning to face former teammates can bring an added layer to the game. He was traded for the first time in his career from the Vegas Golden Knights to the Devils in 2024 and navigating that first game back is always tough.
“Those guys in Vegas, I won a Cup with. I was super tight with them, it's considered family, so it's very difficult playing my game when you want to put somebody through the boards, but you learn that it's almost a respect thing,” Cotter said.
“These guys [the Devils] know I'm going to be coming for all of them; I think they expect that. They know that I'm a competitor, so I'll be gunning for all of them, but it'll be exciting.”
In his sixth NHL season, Cotter has learned to take every practice and game one day at a time and isn’t giving that game too much forethought.
However, he does have some initial thoughts about returning to the Garden State.
“I’ve just got to make sure I beat Nico Hischier on the face-offs, or else I'm going to get crap for it,” Cotter laughed. “I try not to think about it too much, maybe a couple smirks and warm-ups to some guys, but other than that, just play my game.”
That approach has served Cotter well through the opening part of the season. He’s spent previous seasons looking for more opportunity, and he’s found himself in a bigger role with Vancouver, alongside Brock Boeser and Marco Rossi, and he’s focused on sustaining his level of play.
“Now the mindset is to maintain. Obviously not to change anything in my game, but just to try and stay even keel. That's the biggest thing mindset-wise is don't let the highs get too high and lows get too low,” Cotter said.
Finding the balance on game days between being locked in and relaxed is something Cotter said took some time to figure out what works for him. To maintain his mindset, the majority of his vibe is all-business, but he brings a levity and positivity to it where he cultivates his confidence and lifts his teammates up.
“You're dialed in, but you're also happy, positive, and bringing electric energy, and that kind of takes you to a whole other level. You can't really get off your game when you’re like that,” he said.
The 26-year-old winger has become an instant fan-favourite, something he said has made an impact on the group.
“It’s so cool. [If] you have a couple people that have your back, that means the world. All my buddies are sending me cool memes and stuff like that, that the fans are saying. Obviously, that means the world to us players,” Cotter said.
“If we have the backing of the fans like that, that gives us juice. That's ultimately going to make other teams not want to come into our building and play if we have that energy and excitement and the backing of the fans, so I mean they help a tremendous amount.”
While there are the comforts of playing in your home arena, Cotter has also talked about how road trips are a good opportunity for the team to come together and bond, and they’ll develop their chemistry further on this trip. Their travel and free time are spent together, and it gives them the opportunity to get to know each other better.
The message over the first five games has been to focus on cleaning up the details that will improve with time.
“There's tiny little things, like a little bit better decision making, and that'll come with time. Sometimes there's a play at the blue line where the other team got two quick goals,” Cotter said.
“[We] just [need to] play deep [and] play simple.”
For Cotter, the key is keeping everything in perspective and playing the same game that has helped him with his strong start this season.
