A seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, 196th overall, William Nicholl joins the Edmonton Oilers prospect pool. A left shot centre, Nicholl spent his draft year on a very strong London Knights team that won the OHL championship. Nicholl was buried deeper in the Knights lineup, often as the fourthth line centre, which certainly depressed his production more than if he had played higher in the lineup for a weaker team.
| Position | Handedness | Height | Weight |
| C | Left | 6’0” | 170 |
| Season | Team | Lge | Draft Relative | GP | G | A | Pts | GP | G | A | Pts |
| 2022-23 | London Knights | OHL | D-1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 2023-24 | London Knights 🏆 | OHL | D-0 | 65 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 18 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
Nicholl’s strengths
Nicholl is self described as a positive person, a disposition that does seem to translate onto the ice. In a depth role, Nicholl was able to bring a reliable work ethic to the ice, expressed by his effort and attention to defensive details. Nicholl was able to step up the lineup when required for these reasons, something that was not lost on his coaches. Despite being used lower in the lineup than he might otherwise be, Nicholl kept his head high and prioritized team success over personal success. Icetime will be even harder to come by as Nicholl moves up the ranks, making these attributes vital to his continued growth.
Nicholl is quite adept at winning body position over opponents. If the vision for Nicholl is as a forward with some defensive utility, finding ways to thrive in physical battles is paramount. While these strengths are not often those that get armchair scouts excited, they do lend themselves to each other.
Areas of improvement
Virtually every teenage prospect will have to continue building their pro body after being drafted. This might be even more important for a player of Nicholl’s style, as a relentless physical defensive presence, as Nicholl will need the strength and endurance to be effective against professionals.
Nicholl does not appear to have much dynamic offensive upside, but there could be some meaningful strides taken here. Some individual scoring skills would certainly be appreciated, but the more important growth will be a smart and functional offensive game. If Nicholl is able to win puck battles, making quick and smart short passes to teammates will be extremely valuable. Given his physicality, there might be use for this in the defensive zone, helping his team transition, but also in the offensive zone, by passing pucks to dangerous ice off the boards or carving out space at the net front.
Next steps
In all likelihood Nicholl will spend the next two seasons in the OHL. While Nicholl is unlikely to ever lead his team in scoring, a bigger role will give him opportunities to produce more offence. Ideally, Nicholl will be a middle-six centre for the Knights and increase his production while becoming one of the team’s main penalty killers.
Beyond this, Nicholl would do well to graduate to the AHL in 2026–27. Building a reputation as a defensive forward can take time, and it’s very likely that Nicholl will take at least a couple seasons to become enough of a fixture on the AHL Bakersfield Condors lineup to begin warranting any call up consideration.
Projection with the Oilers
Bottom-six centre pushing for an NHL spot out of training camp in 2028–29.
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