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Sam Nichols Elite Prospects ↗

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

Set Commitment

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 0.0564 0.0564 0.0915 0.0915
2020-21 Trinity-Pawling NE-Prep 6 0 5 5 0.833 0.2351 0.2351 0.3813 0.3813
2021-22 Islanders Hockey Club NCDC 32 1 4 5 0.156 0.0871 0.0882 0.1263 0.1280
2022-23 Islanders Hockey Club NCDC 47 3 23 26 0.553 0.3085 0.2996 0.4473 0.4344
■ 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
0.20
before college
→
Actual FR PPG
0.50
2023-24 · SUNY Cortland
+146.3% vs. projection

College Pathway Likelihood (based on 40 comparables)

40%
NCAA D2/D3
0%
Club / ACHA
0%
Other

NCAAe Rankings

#7927
Defenseman overall
#1838
Defenseman born in 2002

D1 Comparables

Nolan Valleau
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.41 PPG
→ Bowling Green
0.23 No data
NCAAe PPG
Benjamin Gallacher
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.45 PPG
→ Ohio State (0.50 D1 FR PPG)
0.25 Elite D
NCAAe PPG
Brandon Kirk
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.32 PPG
→ Dartmouth
0.18 No data
NCAAe PPG
Paul LaDue
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.79 PPG
→ North Dakota (0.51 D1 FR PPG)
0.44 Elite D
NCAAe PPG
Matt Van Voorhis
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.47 PPG
→ Denver (0.10 D1 FR PPG)
0.27 Developing D
NCAAe PPG

D2/3 Comparables

Ryan Webb
Suffolk · 2021-22
0.609 Average
actual D2/3 PPG
Zach Blake
SUNY Plattsburgh · 2010-11
0.500 Average
actual D2/3 PPG
Parker Williams
Concordia (WI) · 2021-22
0.455 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.