In case you missed, Canes and Coffee’s “Midterms” series that checks in on Carolina Hurricanes prospects below the AHL level kicked off yesterday.

You can find the first installment on University of Michigan goalie Jack LaFontaine HERE.

Today’s installment stays in the college ranks and checks in on Boston College forward David Cotton.

David Cotton

David Cotton was the Carolina Hurricanes sixth round draft pick in the 2015 NHL. Cotton matches a familiar theme for many of the Hurricanes forward prospects as a player with good size (6 feet 3 inches tall and 201 pounds), skating ability and offensive skill to boot. After playing for the Waterloo Blackhawks of in the USHL in 2015-16, Cotton made the jump to Boston College and just completed his freshman year of NCAA hockey. He might rank highest among the group of Canes prospects who played NCAA hockey as a freshman in 2016-17 in terms of making the adjustment to playing against older players. He settled in fairly quickly and had a strong half of the year finishing the 2016-17 season with 24 points in 40 games.

Interview with Laura Berestecki from BC Interruption

About the Interviewee

Laura Berestecki (Twitter=@LBerestecki) is the managing editor of BC Interruption (Twitter=@bcinterruption), where she also covers men’s hockey and a number of women’s programs.

Interview on David Cotton

Canes and Coffee: Now in his sophomore season, what has been David Cotton’s role for Boston College thus far during the 2017-18 season?

Laura Berestecki: Cotton has been on the first or second line this season. It’s a young team, so despite being only a sophomore he is already getting leadership experience. He and fellow sophomore Julius Mattila (undrafted) have been playing together a lot and have meshed really well this season.

Canes and Coffee: Can you please provide a short summary of David Cotton’s 2017-18 season so far?

Laura Berestecki: I would describe Cotton as a skilled playmaker that isn’t afraid to go after pucks along the boards.

Cotton’s goal scoring numbers have been lower than expected, but he is still leading the Eagles with 18 points (tied with linemate Julius Mattila). Cotton has been good at setting up plays and has 12 assists so far. Although his numbers don’t necessarily show it, he’s been playing very well recently. If he keeps up the pace he’s been playing at I would expect to see a jump in his goal scoring.

Canes and Coffee: Moving from his freshman to sophomore season, in what areas do you notice the most progress in David Cotton’s development from last season to this one?

Laura Beresteki: Cotton’s speed and conditioning have improved the most. He is a bit quicker and is a smoother skater than he was last year.

Canes and Coffee: As David Cotton continues his work to develop into an NHL player, what areas of his game still have room for improvement? What are his strengths at this stage of his development?

Laura Berestecki: Consistency is an area of his game that needs work – sometimes he’s the best player on the ice, but sometimes he makes silly mistakes. He also could continue to improve on his skating

Canes and Coffee: Is there anything else about David Cotton and/or his 2017-18 season that would be of interest to Carolina Hurricanes fans tracking him from afar?

Laura Berestecki: He really needs 4 years of development in college please don’t take him from us. 🙂

Canes and Coffee would like to extend a huge thank you to Laura Berestecki from BC Interruption for generously sharing her ‘from the rink’ insight on Hurricanes prospect David Cotton.