Oilers 2026 Prospect Countdown No. 9: William Nicholl

The 2023-24 season was Nicholl’s first full season with London; the prior season was spent mostly with the St. Thomas Stars of the GOJHL; however, he did sneak in five games with the OHL club. Playing your first full OHL season during your draft year is a tough feat; you not only have to adapt to the jump in skill, speed, and physicality, but you also need to stand out enough to earn a draft selection. Nicholl did just that. In his 65 games during the 2023-24 season, the seventh-rounder scored six goals and totalled 20 points on a stacked London Knights roster that went on to win the OHL championship. During their playoff run, Nicholl’s points-per-game pace increased as he scored one goal and added seven assists in 18 playoff games.

In the 2024-25 season, London brought back another loaded roster. William Nicholl finished fifth in team scoring with 21 goals and 57 points in 66 games. The smooth-skating forward went from a minus-two to a plus-38. It wasn’t a surprise when London ran through the playoffs again en route to another OHL championship. This time, Nicholl and the Knights finished the job by winning the Memorial Cup. During the playoff run, the former seventh-rounder matched his point total from the prior playoff run with a goal and seven assists in one fewer game this time around. However, Nicholl didn’t register a point in five Memorial Cup games. In nine Memorial Cup games from the 2024 and 2025 runs, the defensively sound forward failed to register any points.

After the 2024-25 season, Nicholl had an upper-body procedure done, which resulted in him missing about half of the 2025-26 season. After winning back-to-back J. Ross Robertson Cups, the Knights roster was due to take a hit with a fair number of their top players graduating. The Knights made some trades throughout the season to load up for another run in a couple of years; this gave the six-foot-tall forward a chance to play up the lineup and flex his offensive muscles a little bit more. In the 32 games after coming back from injury, Nicholl scored 15 goals and had 26 points. If Nicholl played the full season, there was a good possibility that he was going to flirt with 30 goals and a 55-ish point season. The Knights made the playoffs, but were eliminated in five games; the defensively aware forward had three assists in the five games. On April 1st, Nicholl signed his entry-level contract and suited up in five regular-season games as well as three playoff games with the Bakersfield Condors, scoring his first professional goal.

Now we can get into the breakdown and why I think Nicholl can play NHL games in a few years; maybe even stick in the NHL for a while as well. By now, everyone must know that I love a player with a strong skating base. That is one of the main strengths Nicholl will carry with him throughout his career. It is effortless; the crossovers are extremely quick. When Nicholl receives a pass, he can immediately change the pace and kick it into a higher gear. The 183-pound forward uses his outside edges to his advantage, whether it is stopping up or using them to change direction when skating at a defender; they are excellent.

Even against professionals, Nicholl is a better skater than most. The stride length, the linear crossovers, great hinge at the hips; it is all above average already, and he is only 20 years old. The Memorial Cup champion is even able to hold off pressure on his back because of his balance and strength on his skates.

Now, what pairs with a great skating base? Well, of course, it is being defensively aware! Sure, it’s fun to dance around players, but taking care of your own zone is what matters. In all seriousness, the combo of skating and being highly aware defensively can raise your floor as a prospect. Teams are always looking for players who can fly and contribute to the penalty kill. But if you aren’t going to score a lot, you have to be able to help keep the puck out of your net. Oilers fans know too well that if your bottom-six players are bleeding goals, it can ruin your whole season. Constantly, Nicholl is tracking back through the middle of the ice, picking up a man, and as a natural centre, if he is the first forward back, he can hold his own down low.

Nicholl can cover a ton of ice in a short amount of time, and it helps him generate all these turnovers.

It’s funny this profile is sounding like a forward’s version of Beau Akey’s profile. Skating and being defensively aware help with raising your floor, but if you can’t move the puck around, you will struggle to stay in the lineup with all the turnovers. Nicholl won’t put up crazy assist numbers in the NHL, but he has enough playmaking ability to continuously move the puck around.

The first clip above is an important one to me. It’s a dirty puck along the wall, and without even stickhandling once, Nicholl lays it out on a platter for his teammate. I don’t mind Nicholl on the wing or at centre, but I bet he will be a winger during his career; this means he needs to be able to get the puck off the wall to break the puck out and create offence. I don’t expect the new Condor forward to ever be a deception-based passer or create his own lanes, but if the lane is open, Nicholl will find it, and he can make a pass on his backhand or forehand. One of the more slept-on areas of his game is how many pucks he will funnel to the slot, and that gives him the potential to put up some assist numbers. The left-shot forward clearly knows where the dangerous parts of the ice are.

William Nicholl’s 2026-27 projection and NHL timelines

I only have a few worries about William Nicholl transitioning into an NHL player. The first is that he only has one speed. There aren’t many players in the NHL who won’t be able to skate at his pace, and Nicholl can change speeds effectively. I would like to see more stop-ups, a bit more east-to-west movement to threaten the middle of the ice. Nicholl is a very simplistic player, and I think that helps with him moving up; however, it does limit his potential, and I don’t know if he can be a third-liner. Nicholl reminds me a bit of a new Oiler, Mathieu Joseph. Joseph is an inch taller and has six pounds on Nicholl, but the skating, the chip-and-chase play style, and being defensively aware are all comparable. I can see a world where Nicholl plays two full seasons with the Condors, and in the last year of his entry-level deal, I can see him pushing for a fourth-line role. Especially because Nicholl will be cheap with an ever-rising cap; instead of paying somebody a million and a half or two million, maybe you can save that money by playing Nicholl and using it on skill. I project Nicholl to play a defensive role this year in Bakersfield, and I would love it if he got a chance to kill penalties. I don’t expect a high point total, but that doesn’t matter to me. You can see Nicholl’s future role; can he continue to mould into that? I think so.

Top 20 Oilers prospects for 2026-27