Vegas Golden Knights’ Paul Cotter has been a big reason for team’s early success

Ken Boehlke of Sin Bin Vegas joined Daily Faceoff Live to discuss the Vegas Golden Knights’ hot start to the season and, more importantly, how forward and recent highlight reel sensation Paul Cotter has played a big role in the team’s early season success. 

Matt Larkin: Ken, I wanted to ask you about Paul Cotter. He’s someone who has popped for me, and obviously, he scored an unbelievable goal. It’s interesting to me he’s big and physical, but if you look at his stops around his career, it’s not like he was ever a dominant scorer. He just looks so good as a fourth-round pick, 23 years old, late bloomer. I’m curious, as someone who gets to see him every night, what does Vegas have in him?  

Ken Boehlke: He’s kind of an up-and-down player; there are good shifts, there are bad shifts, and there is that highlight reel goal that you see right there. He does a lot of good things, he’s a physical player he plays on the forecheck, he’s willing to defend and get in front, and everything to his game is there, and then his hands are unbelievable. He’s got that in him; he’s great at the shootout, too. But, every single time Bruce Cassidy gets asked about him, he brings up defensive issues and how he’s not always there and not always engaged. It’s not as easy to see for us to watch the game.

Ken Boehlke: I’ll readily admit there have been games where I thought Cotter was great, and Cassidy will agree to that, but there have been times where you do see he’s not there the entire game and not popping as he does in certain games and then there will be that moment, and that’s why he’s been in the lineup every single game this season, and I don’t think he’s coming out anytime soon. That moment, that goal is good enough even if he has downs as a young player goes through, and I think with Cassidy, he will get better over the course of his career.

You can watch the full episode here…