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Sam Nichols Elite Prospects ↗

Position: Defense DOB: 2002-10-22 Country: USA
No commitment set

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NCAA Division I

NCAA D3 / D2

Career Trajectory
Dashed = raw PPG  ·  ■ Solid blue = age-adjusted NCAAe-PPG  ·  ■ Green = actual college PPG
Junior Seasons
Season Team League GP G A Pts PPG NCAAe-PPG Age-Adj D3e-PPG Age-Adj
2019-20 Trinity-Pawling NE-Prep 25 2 3 5 0.200 0.0396 0.0396 0.0911 0.0911
2020-21 Trinity-Pawling NE-Prep 6 0 5 5 0.833 0.1651 0.1651 0.3797 0.3797
2021-22 Islanders Hockey Club NCDC 32 1 4 5 0.156 0.0637 0.0645 0.1256 0.1272
2022-23 Islanders Hockey Club NCDC 47 3 23 26 0.553 0.2255 0.2190 0.4447 0.4319
■ Blue = NCAAe (D1 anchor)   ■ Green = D3e (D3 anchor)   COVID-flagged seasons highlighted in yellow
College Seasons (Historical)
Season School Div Conference Year GP G A Pts PPG
2025-26 Plymouth State D3 LittleEast JR 14 0 1 1 0.071
2024-25 Plymouth State D3 LittleEast — 9 0 1 1 0.111
2023-24 SUNY Cortland D3 SUNYAC FR 22 1 10 11 0.500
Pre-College Projection vs. Actual Freshman Year
Projected PPG
0.15
before college
→
Actual FR PPG
0.50
2023-24 · SUNY Cortland
+236.9% vs. projection

College Pathway Likelihood (based on 40 comparables)

42%
NCAA D2/D3
2%
Club / ACHA
2%
Other

NCAAe Rankings

#7042
Defenseman overall
#1677
Defenseman born in 2002

D1 Comparables

Nolan Valleau
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.41 PPG
→ Bowling Green
0.22 No data
NCAAe PPG
Brandon Kirk
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.32 PPG
→ Dartmouth
0.17 No data
NCAAe PPG
Benjamin Gallacher
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.45 PPG
→ Ohio State (0.50 D1 FR PPG)
0.24 Elite D
NCAAe PPG
Patrick Koudys
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.23 PPG
→ RPI (0.10 D1 FR PPG)
0.13 Developing D
NCAAe PPG
Taki Pantziris
OHL · 2012-13 · 0.29 PPG
→ Brown
0.15 No data
NCAAe PPG

D2/3 Comparables

Parker Williams
Concordia (WI) · 2021-22
0.455 Average
actual D2/3 PPG
Tim Schneider
Wisconsin-Superior · 2001-02
0.393 Average
actual D2/3 PPG
Ryan Webb
Suffolk · 2021-22
0.609 Average
actual D2/3 PPG

How to read this: NCAAe and D3e factors convert a player's junior PPG into expected NCAA scoring at the D1 or D3 level. Harder conferences → lower projected PPG for the same player. A strong junior player (e.g. USHL 0.90 PPG) will project much higher in NESCAC than Big Ten because the D3 scoring environment is lower-difficulty.

Strength factor: conferences above 1.0 are harder than average; below 1.0 are easier. The formula is: Base NCAAe PPG ÷ Conference Strength = Projected PPG.