2 weeks Ago By Liam McCormick, Oilers Daily
The Edmonton Oilers may have picked up a serious steal in the seventh round of last year's draft, according to a new report. Oilers prospect expert Bruce Curlock has been banging the drum that William Nicholl could be making serious strides to becoming an NHL-level talent. He's been off to a great start to this season with the London Knighgs of the OHL, scoring 4 goals and 12 points in 12 games.
Nicholl scored only 6 goals and 20 points in 65 games last year in London, but the Knights were a unique team. London was stacked with older, high-end players, which left Nicholl in the bottom six for the entire year alongside another Oilers prospect in Sam O'Reilly. Nicholl's production still obviously wasn't great for his first year of draft eligibility, but now shooting up to a point per game player with more ice time, it's looking like the Oilers made a smart bet on an under-the-radar player.
Sam O'Reilly was in a similar situation as well, and he ended up performing so well in preseason games, he became a surprising candidate to make the roster . William Nicholl didn't have the same impression at Oilers training camp, but he did make some decent plays, and is certainly improving his stock now. Nicholl ended up being sent back to Junior relatively early into Oilers training camp.
There's one major difference that separates Nicholl from the litany of other high-scoring junior forward prospects - Nicholl is 6'0 tall and nearly 190 pounds. He does have the physical frame to compete at the professional level, and he will only continue to grow. Usually you can write off a 7th round draft pick as not making the team pretty quick after the draft.
Nicholl improving his stock is great, but being called a potential steal should be real exciting for Oilers fans. This article first appeared on Oilers Daily and was syndicated with permission..
