Kotalik had 20 goals and 43 points in 75 games with the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers last season, the fourth time in six seasons he reached the 20-goal mark. The right winger shares the NHL career record with Slava Kozlov by scoring 11 deciding shootout goals. Kotalik has connected 20 times in 38 career shootout attempts.

In 445 regular-season NHL games, Kotalik has 121 goals and 130 assists. Last season, Kotalik led the NHL with five deciding goals in shootouts and scored eight times overall in the tiebreaker. He was traded by Buffalo to Edmonton at the March 4 deadline.