The Devils have already found a better version of their bottom six this season, and that makes Paul Cotter’s latest stumble in Vancouver look even worse in hindsight.
New Jersey reshaped those lower-line roles over the offseason, and the early returns have been clear: the team is finally getting secondary scoring after that part of the roster went missing a year ago. That was one of the key goals of Sunny Mehta’s offseason work, and it has changed the feel of the lineup every night.
Cotter was supposed to be part of that solution once upon a time. He was the main piece the Devils got back when they sent Alexander Holtz and Akira Schmid to the Vegas Golden Knights, part of Tom Fitzgerald’s effort to inject more grit into the lineup. There was skill there too, but not enough of the right kind to really move the Devils forward.
Even with his rights still in New Jersey’s hands last offseason, Mehta made a clean break. Cotter wasn’t given a qualifying offer, which sent him into unrestricted free agency.
That led him to the Vancouver Canucks, where the fit seemed promising almost immediately. He scored four goals in his first four games, a start that made the signing look sharp.
But the production vanished after that. Over his next eight games, he managed just one point.
The slide was enough to land him in healthy scratch territory, and his reaction turned heads.
“#Canucks Paul Cotter with a unique view on being a healthy scratch last night vs Minnesota pic.twitter.com/RPxMxxfKWe
- Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) October 26, 2026”
After the scratch, Cotter said he considered it a compliment.
That’s a strange word to hear attached to a benching, especially for a player sitting out on one of the league’s worst teams. There may have been more going on behind the scenes, but on the surface it’s a hard answer to make sense of.
The Devils, at least, are no longer waiting around for Cotter to become more than he is. They were hoping for more when they brought him in, and he did provide a physical edge at times while earning the league minimum. He flashed enough offense to look like a possible Miles Wood replacement, but the same frustrations followed him.
Now New Jersey has moved on to Jesper Boqvist and Amadeus Lombardi in those roles, and the difference is already showing. Vancouver may get Cotter back in the lineup soon enough, but the early glow from that signing is already gone. What a difference a week makes.
In Other News...
Devils Fans Are Still Waiting For Hellebuyck To Address One Thing
Connor Hellebuycks move to New Jersey has already shifted the spotlight, but the story behind the trade still lingers. According to insider Elliotte Friedman, the Winnipeg Jets made the deal in part to avoid the possibility of a public feud, with concern that Hellebuyck might have spoken to the media after a required physical. The preference in Winnipeg was to keep the matter contained and find closure inside the room instead of letting it spill into a larger dispute.
Now with Hellebuyck on the Devils and expected to debut soon, the attention is turning to how this all gets addressed, especially with a return to Winnipeg on the horizon. For New Jersey, the immediate focus is on what he brings on the ice, but the off-ice backdrop gives his arrival a little extra weight. The one thing Devils fans are still waiting on is how, or if, Hellebuyck handles the part of this trade that Winnipeg clearly wanted to keep private. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Fans Finally Got Their First Look At A Stunning New Era
The Devils latest move finally became visible on the ice when Connor Hellebuyck took part in his first practice with New Jersey after arriving from the Winnipeg Jets in a multi-asset trade. For a fan base that has been waiting to see how this reshaped roster will look in real time, getting their first extended glance at a new No. 1-level presence in camp was the latest sign that the organization is moving into a different phase.
Around the league, the goaltending and injury picture remains unsettled, with Logan Thompson and Jakob Chychrun leaving Capitals practice early and Thompson still working back from a lower-body injury. Elsewhere, Taylor Hall was back on the ice with the Hurricanes after his own lower-body issue, while Alexander Nikishin has yet to rejoin Carolina after signing his one-year deal, a reminder that even as one major addition settles in, other teams are still sorting out their own lineup questions. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Just Saw How Fast Colorado Can Suddenly Look Vulnerable
The Avalanches latest wobble was a reminder that even one of the NHLs most dangerous teams can look shaky in a hurry. Colorado was beaten 6-2 by Nashville, and the breakdowns were easy to spot, especially on special teams, where the Predators cashed in on four power-play chances out of seven. For a Devils team that has to keep an eye on the bigger picture in the East, it was the kind of result that shows how quickly a contender can lose its footing when the details slip.
Scott Wedgewood did not give Colorado the kind of steadiness it needed, and the broader issue has been the same one following the Avalanche lately: the defense has not held up well enough, and the overall effort has come and gone. That inconsistency has left Colorado searching for more urgency and a way to stop the slide before it starts to affect the tone of the season. [Read more 🡒]