Canucks May Have Another Kiefer Sherwood in Paul Cotter

But the numbers don’t really explain why Vancouver fans took to him. Sherwood played with an edge. He could skate, hit, forecheck and annoy the opposition. He set an NHL record for hits and somehow combined that physicality with legitimate offensive production. He became one of those players fans loved because they knew they’d get effort every night.

Cotter has some of those same traits. He’s 6-foot-2 and 213 pounds, which is a bit bigger than Sherwood. He’s a powerful skater with a big shot and a willingness to get involved physically. He’s a relentless forechecker. He’s the kind of player who can turn a seemingly ordinary shift into something uncomfortable for the other team. And now he’s scoring. That’s where the comparison gets interesting.

Could Cotter Actually Be a Little Bit Better than Sherwood?

Cotter is younger than Sherwood was when he established himself in Vancouver, and he has a somewhat different offensive profile. He has more size and seems to lean a little more on his speed and shot. Sherwood’s game was built on relentless physical pressure and board work, with offensive production as a welcome bonus.

Cotter’s early production suggests there may be a little more offensive upside there. But we have to be careful. Four games is just four games. Cotter is shooting at an unsustainable rate right now. Nobody should look at four goals and decide he’s suddenly a 30-goal scorer.

That’s not what interests me. What interests me is that the Canucks appear to have found another player who can contribute without needing to be a star. That’s an important role on a rebuilding team that wants to lift its young players higher.

Vancouver Needs Players Like Cotter

The Canucks have plenty of reasons to be excited about young players and prospects. But building a good NHL team isn’t only about finding stars. You need players who make the lineup harder to play against. Sherwood did that. And Cotter is capable of doing it, too.

They can both play up and down the lineup. They can contribute in different situations. They bring speed and physicality without being limited to being “energy” players. And both arrived with expectations that weren’t really that enormous.

That’s part of what makes these players so interesting. Sometimes a player doesn’t need to become something completely different to be valuable. He just needs somebody to give him enough opportunity to show what he already is.

So Why Does Cotter Remind Me of Sherwood?

Maybe it’s because both players bring a certain honesty to the game. You know what you’re going to get. They’re going to skate. They’re going to finish checks. They’re going to get on the forecheck. They’re going to make the opposition work.

And every once in a while, they’re going to put the puck in the net. Sherwood eventually became more than that in Vancouver. He became a 19-goal, 40-point player and a fan favourite. Cotter isn’t there yet. But that’s the intriguing part. The Canucks may have another player who was easier to describe as a useful depth piece than as an important part of the team.

Four games don’t prove Cotter will follow Sherwood’s path. But they do explain why I’m thinking about Sherwood when I watch him. They might be different players, but they both make the game feel a little more alive.